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Bullying Victimization and Problem Video Gaming: The Mediating Role of Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

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Bullying Victimization and Problem Video Gaming: The Mediating Role of Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

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Paul B. Tchounwou, Academic Editor

Abstract

Background: Adolescent victims of bullying are more likely to experience a range of mental health problems. Although research has investigated the relationship between bullying victimization and various addictive behaviors, the impact of bullying on problem video gaming (PVG) remains largely unexplored. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between bullying victimization and PVG as mediated by the presence of internalizing and externalizing problems. Methods: Survey responses were collected from 6353 high-school students aged 12 to 18. Measures include bullying victimization (physical, verbal, cyber and indirect), internalizing (e.g., anxious and depressive symptoms) and externalizing (e.g., aggressive and delinquent problems) problems, and PVG (measured by the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form). Results: Mediation analyses indicated that the relationship between verbal bullying and PVG was completely mediated by the presence of internalizing and externalizing problems. The relationship between physical bullying and PVG was completely mediated by externalizing problems and the relationship between cyberbullying and PVG was completely mediated by internalizing problems. Lastly, the relationship between indirect bullying and PVG was partially mediated by externalizing and internalizing problems. Conclusions: Results suggest that different types of bullying victimization are differentially associated with PVG, with mental health symptoms significantly mediating this relationship.

Keywords: bullying victimization, cyberbullying, externalizing problems, gaming disorder, internalizing problems, problem video gaming

1. Introduction

Overall, although research has identified significant associations between bullying victimization, mental health symptoms, and PVG, no studies have presented these variables in an integrated model to investigate their sequential associations. Of note, it is possible that the relationship between bullying victimization and PVG is mediated by the presence of mental health symptoms, as externalizing and internalizing problems have been found to fully mediate the relationship between bullying victimization and a number of other addictive behaviors including alcohol, cannabis, cigarette use, and gambling [ 56]. With regards to PVG, it is possible that similar relationships are present due to the etiological, clinical, and phenomenological similarities between substance and non-substance addictions [ 57, 58, 59]. Moreover, there is a need for mediation models to account for the frequency of engagement in gaming as the latter has been independently associated with increases in both bullying victimization and PVG symptoms [ 27, 43, 46, 47]. Finally, as a majority of studies have looked at either cyberbullying or school bullying in general, it is crucial to differentiate between different types of bullying victimization (e.g., verbal, physical, cyber, indirect [e.g., spreading mean rumors or being kept out of a "group"]), as they have been found to be differentially associated with externalizing (larger effects with physical bullying) and internalizing (larger effects with indirect, cyber and verbal bullying) problems [ 60, 61, 62, 63].

Given the potential associations between bullying victimization, mental health symptoms and PVG, the present study aims to analyze the relationships between different types of bullying victimization and PVG severity, as mediated by externalizing and internalizing problems. It was hypothesized that a higher frequency of any type of bullying victimization would be associated with greater externalizing and internalizing problems. Second, it was hypothesized that externalizing and internalizing problems would mediate the relationship between bullying victimization and PVG. Third, as gaming frequency appears to be closely related to PVG, it was hypothesized that the frequency of video game play would in turn mediate the relationship between externalizing and internalizing problems and PVG.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Participants and Procedure

The current study employed data from the 2019 Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board/Wood County Educational Service Center Survey on Alcohol and Other Drug Use among adolescents in Wood County, Ohio. Ethical approval was granted by the ADAMHS ethics committee. Students completed an anonymous paper-and-pencil survey administered by their classroom teacher. In each school, trained addiction counsellors coordinated the survey distribution and assisted teachers with administration when required. Participants were informed that their survey responses were confidential and that they could withdraw from participation at any time without consequence. School principals provided parents with an informed consent form to ensure parental assent for participation. Information regarding the survey was provided to all parents by letter and were available for viewing on each school district website. Parents could elect for their children to opt out by informing their school principal.

Of a total of 7573 students from grades 7 through 12 who participated in this study, 763 were excluded due to suspected insincere responding (i.e., reporting engagement in all gambling activities at all times and providing inconsistent responses). Of the remaining 6810 adolescents, 57 were removed for not meeting age criteria (i.e., ages 12-18), 360 were removed for omitting their gender, and 40 were removed for having greater than 50% missing items on either the internalizing or externalizing problem factors of the Problem Severity Scale. A total of 6353 adolescents (M age = 14.74 years, SD = 1.76, 50.4% male) were included in the final sample.

2.2. Measures

2.2.1. Demographic Characteristics

All participants indicated their gender, age, grade level, and ethnicity (e.g., White, Hispanic, Black) at the beginning of the survey.

2.2.2. Bullying Victimization

Bullying experiences were defined as purposeful acts by which bullies use their power to threaten, harass, or hurt others. Participants were asked to report how frequently they had been bullied over the past month on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = "Not at all"; 1 = "Once or twice"; 2 = "Several times"; 3 = "Often"; 4 = "Most of the time"). Four types of bullying experiences were explored: physical, verbal, cyber, and indirect bullying.

2.2.3. Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

The Ohio Scales Youth Problem Severity Scale (PSS) is a 20-item self-report measure that assesses common mental health symptoms and problem behaviors over the past 30 days based on common presenting problems by youth with emotional disturbances and problem behaviors based on the DSM-IV [ 64]. Scores were calculated by summing the participants' ratings of each item on a 6-point scale (0 = "Not at all"; 1 = "Once or twice"; 2 = "Several times"; 3 = "Often"; 4 = "Most of the time"; and 5 = "All of the time". Psychometric studies have identified the presence of an overarching two-factor structure of the PSS including an internalizing and externalizing problems factor [ 65]. Scores for internalizing problems (nine items) ranged from 0 to 45 ( M = 7.48; SD = 10.12), while scores for externalizing problems (eleven items) ranged from 0 to 55 ( M = 7.26; SD = 7.94). Within the present sample, the internal consistency for the PSS was excellent (Cronbach α = 0.93).

2.2.4. Gaming Frequency

Participants were asked to report how often they spent at least two hours daily playing video games online or offline over the previous year. Participants indicated responses on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = "Not at all"; 1 = "Less than once a month"; 2 = "About once a month"; 3 = "About once a week"; 4 = "Daily").

2.2.5. Problem Video Gaming

Problem video gaming was assessed utilizing the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS-SF9) [ 66]. The IGDS-SF9 is a 9-item measurement scale adapted from the nine core criteria that define internet gaming disorder according to the DSM-5 [ 9]. Responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = "Never"; 1 = "Rarely"; 2 = "Sometimes"; 3 = "Often"; 4 = "Very Often"), which can be summed for a total score ranging from 0 to 45, with higher scores indicating greater severity of internet gaming disorder. A score of 35 or more was considered at risk for PVG and 146 participants scored within this range. Within the present sample, the internal consistency for the IGDS-SF9 was excellent (Cronbach α = 0.91).

2.3. Statistical Analysis

IBM SPSS version 25 was used to calculate the descriptive statistics and for preliminary analyses. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to explore gender differences in rates of bullying victimization, externalizing, and internalizing problems, the frequency of video game play, and PVG severity. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to investigate the association between the continuous variables included in the structural equation model. For the structural equation model, a parallel-serial mediation model was conducted using M plus version 8.0 [ 67]. In the parallel-serial media model, age and sex were included as covariates, and correlations were included between the four different types of bullying victimization and between externalizing and internalizing problems. Global goodness of fit for the model was assessed across several indices including the chi-square test of model fit, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA; ≤0.05), comparative fit index (CFI; ≥0.95), and standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR; ≤0.06), with the values in brackets indicating an excellent fit [ 68, 69]. Bootstrapping procedures were used to calculate confidence intervals for estimates of the indirect effects [ 70]. Confidence intervals (95% CI) from 5000 bootstrap samples are reported. Bootstrap intervals are calculated as significant when the 95% CI does not contain zero.

3. Results

Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics for the demographic characteristics of the sample, the frequency of bullying victimization over the past month, self-reported externalizing and internalizing problems, gaming frequency and PVG severity. Independent samples t-tests were utilized to investigate gender differences in the investigated variables. Results indicated that rates of physical bullying victimization were greater among males compared to females ( M = 0.19, SD = 0.66 vs. M = 0.17, SD = 0.58, t[6340] = 7.80, p = 0.005). Females reported being bullied more often than males for verbal ( M = 0.57, SD = 1.02 vs. M = 0.45, SD = 0.98, t[6344] = 25.68, p < 0.001), cyber ( M = 0.29, SD = 0.78 vs. M = 0.20, SD = 0.70, t[6347] = 61.65, p < 0.001), and indirect ( M = 0.50, SD = 1.00 vs. M = 0.31, SD = 0.87, t[6341] = 141.48, p < 0.001) bullying. No gender differences were noted for externalizing problems ( p = 0.083). However, females reported greater internalizing problems ( M = 9.86, SD = 11.21 vs. M = 5.11, SD = 8.04, t[5997] = 366.53, p < 0.001). As for the frequency of video game play, males reported more frequent participation compared to females ( M = 2.30, SD = 1.71 vs. M = 1.44, SD = 1.64, t[6261] = 22.71 p < 0.001) and males also reported greater PVG severity ( M = 14.57, SD = 7.21 vs. M = 11.59, SD = 5.99, t[6083] = 228.11, p < 0.001).

3.1. Assumption Tests for the Parallel-Serial Mediation Model

First, all included variables were measured at the interval or ratio level. Second, the absence of multicollinearity was verified through correlational analyses and was considered acceptable as the Pearson's correlation coefficients ranged from r = 0.02 to r = 0.68 ( Table 2 ), with no coefficients exceeding 0.90 [ 71]. Third, although some values of skewness and kurtosis exceeded the acceptable range (±1.00) [ 72], a decision was made to include these variables as the variables in question are typically positively skewed (i.e., bullying victimization, mental health symptoms, PVG severity). Third, all missing data were excluded prior to conducting the structural equation models. No significant differences were present in the demographic characteristics of the included and excluded sample.

3.2. Parallel-Serial Mediation Model for Bullying Victimization and Problem Video Gaming

A parallel-serial mediation model investigating the relationship between bullying victimization, externalizing and internalizing problems, gaming frequency and problem video gaming was used. There were four parallel paths by which each type of bullying victimization (i.e., physical, verbal, cyber and indirect) were hypothesized to be associated with PVG: (i) externalizing problems; (ii) internalizing problems; (iii) externalizing problems and gaming frequency; and (iv) internalizing problems and gaming frequency. The model indicated an overall acceptable fit to the data, the chi-square test was statistically significant (χ ² = 518.73 (8, N = 5537), p < 0.001), the RMSEA was 0.10, the CFI was 0.92 and the SRMR was 0.04. Path estimates are presented in Figure 1 and indirect effects in Table 3 . Gender and age were included as covariates in the model.

Table 3

Indirect Effect

β (95% CI)

p

Model results indicate that the frequencies of verbal and indirect bullying were significantly positively associated with gaming frequency and PVG severity through internalizing problems, with cyber bullying being significantly negatively associated with gaming frequency and PVG severity through internalizing problems. Moreover, the frequencies of physical, verbal and indirect bullying were significantly positively associated PVG severity through externalizing problems, with the path through gaming frequency being non-significant. Overall, the observed variables explained 16.1% of the variance in PVG severity, with complete mediation effects being noted for physical bullying through externalizing problems, verbal bullying through externalizing problems, internalizing problems and both internalizing problems and gaming frequency, and cyber bullying through internalizing problems and both internalizing problems and gaming frequency. Partial mediation effects were only noted for indirect bullying through externalizing problems, internalizing problems and both internalizing problems and gaming frequency, with the direct effect from indirect bullying to PVG severity remaining significant.

4. Discussion

The first objective of this study was to better understand the relationship between four types of bullying victimization often observed in high schools (verbal, physical, cyber, and indirect bullying) and PVG severity, as mediated by both externalizing and internalizing problems. Additionally, given that gaming frequency is positively correlated with PVG severity, the following study conducted a parallel-serial mediation including this variable. In line with the first hypothesis, each type of bullying was significantly and positively correlated with both externalizing and internalizing problems. This is consistent with previous research that has demonstrated that increased levels of bullying victimization are associated with various mental health symptoms [ 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 73, 74].

However, some noteworthy changes in these associations were identified within the mediation model, which suggests that this study's second hypothesis was only partially supported. Specifically, verbal and indirect bullying were positively associated with PVG through both externalizing and internalizing problems, and physical bullying was positively associated with PVG through externalizing problems. Overall, this is consistent with previous research indicating that the relationship between bullying victimization and engagement in a variety of addictive behaviors (i.e., gambling, alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use) is significantly mediated by mental health symptoms [ 56]. What is unique about the present study is that this relationship also extends to gaming disorder. This not only replicates previous studies reporting positive relationships between bullying victimization and PVG [ 52, 53, 54], yet provides evidence for the role of mental health symptoms in this relationship, accounting for 16.1% of the variance in PVG severity. The extent of the variance explained in this model points to the fact that various factors other than bullying victimization, externalizing and internalizing problems may explain youth PVG, including self-esteem, impulsivity, attention difficulties, social competencies and parental relationship quality [ 16]. Nevertheless, along with previous research, these findings demonstrate that engagement in video gaming may be a way for individuals to cope with, escape, or avoid the uncomfortable emotions associated with being a victim of bullying [ 75].

Furthermore, the differences in these interrelationships based on the type of bullying victimization may be indicative of differing psychopathological pathways to PVG. For verbal and indirect bullying, although significant mediation effects were present through both externalizing and internalizing problems, the relationship appeared to be greater for internalizing problems which is consistent with past research on this subject [ 60, 61, 62, 63]. These results may be indicative of possible gender differences in these associations, with females endorsing greater verbal and indirect bullying and greater internalizing problems. However, gender was added as a control variable in the mediation model to account for these differences. Alternatively, it is possible that these two forms of victimization are more likely to result in feelings of sadness, worthlessness, loneliness, anxiety and worry due to peer rejection and verbal abuse, which would in turn lead to youth turning to video games as an escape, a means to cope, or to establish new social relationships online [ 75]. In contrast, as physical bullying was only associated with externalizing problems, victims of physical bullying may be more likely to react to bullying by getting angry, yelling, arguing with others, getting into fights, or skipping school, and turning to video games as a way of releasing their aggressive impulses or as a means of sensation seeking [ 46]. This would be in line with research identifying stronger associations between physical bullying and externalizing problems [ 60, 61, 62, 63]. Overall, although these explanations require further empirical research utilizing a longitudinal design to properly test these hypotheses, the results of this study may point to different pathways to PVG severity for victims of bullying through the presence of internalizing and/or externalizing problems.

Interestingly, cyberbullying was significantly negatively associated with PVG through both internalizing problems and gaming frequency, which is in contrast to previous research identifying positive relationships between cyberbullying, gaming frequency [ 43, 44, 45, 46, 47] and problematic internet use [ 76]. It is possible that this relationship is negative because individuals who are cyberbullied could be bullied through and during their online gaming activities and as such, avoid excessive gaming as a means to avoid cyberbullying. Although research on cyberbullying and gaming is sparse, some studies have found increased rates of cyberbullying are present in online multi-player games within both adolescent and adult samples [ 49, 77], with increased rates of cyberbullying being endorsed among those playing violent video games [ 45, 51]. Additionally, research participants who have endured cyberbullying within online games report that it can be perceived as significantly more challenging because the perpetrators tend to be strangers. As such, anonymous cyberbullying can be identified as more severe than in-person bullying because the anonymity instigates greater feelings of helplessness within victims [ 78]. Overall, additional research is necessary to investigate the mediums through which cyberbullying happens (e.g., social media, forums, online gaming) while clearly establishing the directionality of these findings (i.e., are victims of cyberbullying less likely to report frequent gaming/symptoms of PVG or are those that report less frequent gaming/no symptoms of PVG less likely to by victims of cyberbullying).

For the third hypothesis, the frequency of video game play was only a significant mediator in the relationship between internalizing problems and PVG severity for verbal, indirect, and cyber bullying, with this association being negative for cyberbullying. This is in line with previous research identifying that youth victims of school bullying report increased time playing video games [ 43, 47]. However, these results are inconsistent with previous research identifying positive relationships between time playing video games and cyberbullying victimization [ 43, 44, 46, 47]. The differentiation between video game playing and PVG, in addition to the motivations towards video game playing, remains an important area of future investigation as it may yield relevant insights into differing motivations towards gaming engagement for victims of bullying (e.g., escapism, achievement, competition, social recognition, belongingness) [ 46]. Moreover, although the frequency of video game play was included in the present model as a mediator between externalizing and internalizing problems and PVG severity, additional longitudinal research should investigate the temporal sequencing of these variables and potential bidirectional effects.

Limitations

The present study demonstrates a significant relationship between different types of bullying and PVG mediated through mental health problems and problem behaviors. Nevertheless, several limitations should be noted. First, as the data are cross sectional, it is not possible to assess causal relationships between the variables. Future studies should examine this relationship longitudinally in order to better evaluate the temporal nature of these relationships. Second, self-report data were utilized, which allows for potential biases in responding. Third, the survey did not include measures to identify whether some victims were also bullying others (i.e., bully-victims). Future research should investigate the differences in these different types of victimization and perpetration in order to better understand the experiences of the exhibited internalizing and externalizing problems. Finally, although a large sample size was used, the data were collected from one county in the United States (Wood County, Ohio) which included a predominantly white sample. Wood County, Ohio is located in the American Midwest and has an estimated population of 130,817, with 85.4% of households having a broadband internet subscription and a median household income of $62,390 USD [ 79]. As such, the present sample may not be representative of adolescents from different regions of the United States or from different countries. Additional studies should examine this relationship across multiple states and countries in order to verify the generalizability of these results.

5. Conclusions

The current study provides a more detailed analysis of the relationship between different types of bullying victimization and PVG severity. With the need for additional research investigating the possible mediators in the relationship between bullying victimization and PVG, this study provides an overview of the mediating role of mental health symptoms and problem behaviors while accounting for relevant variables including age, gender and the frequency of video game play. Given these findings, it appears as though externalizing and internalizing problems are of significant, but differing importance when investigating the psychological impact of different forms of bullying victimization. These results highlight a potential externalizing pathway to PVG for adolescent victims of physical, verbal and indirect bullying, and an internalizing pathway to PVG for youth victims of verbal and indirect bullying. Moreover, these results call attention to the need for a more detailed investigation of cyberbullying and understanding the online venues where youth experience these forms of victimization and how this is associated with PVG severity.

Overall, these results point to the importance of prevention and educational initiatives aimed at reducing bullying within and outside schools, with the necessary involvement of parents, guardians, and educators to monitor youth well-being and the potential mental health ramifications of bullying victimization. As the relationship between bullying victimization and PVG severity appears to be completely explained by externalizing and internalizing problems (with the exception of indirect bullying), interventions addressing youth resilience and promoting psychological and emotional well-being have the potential to be effective in reducing the negative behavioral sequalae of peer victimization. For instance, universal intervention programs targeting emotional awareness and emotion regulation can be delivered in educational settings, with the potential of having impacts at the level of primary and secondary prevention while having population-level benefits [ 80]. A two-pronged approach of preventing bullying victimization and promoting youth mental health is crucial to support the health and well-being of adolescents.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, J.R. and L.M.; Methodology, J.R., L.M., W.I., and J.D.; Formal Analysis, J.R. and L.M.; Writing-Original Draft Preparation, J.R. and L.M.; Writing-Review and Editing, J.R., L.M., W.I., and J.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

No funding agencies had input or provided direct funding for the preparation or submission of this manuscript. J.R. received doctoral fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and from the Fonds de recherche du Québec-Société et Culture (FRQSC): Programme de bourse sur le jeu responsable.

Institutional Review Board Statement

This study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in this study.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available for privacy reasons.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Footnotes

Publisher's Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

30. Cerezo F. Bullying: Análisis de la situación en las aulas españolas. Int. J. Psychol. Psychol. Ther. 2009;9:383-394. [ Google Scholar]

73. Arslan G., Allen K.-A., Tanhan A. School Bullying, Mental Health, and Wellbeing in Adolescents: Mediating Impact of Positive Psychological Orientations. Child Indic. Res. 2020:1-20. doi: 10.1007/s12187-020-09780-2. [[ CrossRef] Google Scholar]

77. Fryling M., Cotler J., Rivituso J., Mathews L., Pratico S. Cyberbullying or normal game play? Impact of age, gender, and experience on cyberbullying in multi-player online gaming environments: Perceptions from one gaming forum. J. Inf. Syst. Appl. Res. 2015;8:4-18. [ Google Scholar]

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Bullying Victimization and Problem Video Gaming: The Mediating Role of Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

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Paul B. Tchounwou, Academic Editor Background: Adolescent victims of bullying are more likely to experience a range of mental health problems. Although research has investigated the relationship between bullying victimization and various addictive behaviors, the impact of bullying on problem video gaming (PVG) remains largely unexplored.

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User-Centered Virtual Reality for Promoting Relaxation: An Innovative Approach

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User-Centered Virtual Reality for Promoting Relaxation: An Innovative Approach

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Introduction

Virtual reality (VR) has been successfully employed to promote relaxation and reduce stress, and it has notably matured trough time, showing a relevant potential in improving and regulating emotional well-being.

Two main approaches aiming at achieving relaxation, stress reduction and emotion regulation can be found in the literature. The first one employs mainly "generic environments" by which users are exposed to relaxing narratives stimuli and try to gain control over body physiological activation, while the second one requires users to be active, implying an interaction with VR contents to train emotion regulation.

However, in the epoch of personalization a new approach is needed that provides the user with a more adequate and person-adapted techniques. In the present contribution a third approach is therefore proposed, which integrates and extends those mentioned above, but is based on its specific methodological assumptions.

This third perspective would propose a VR based on personalized contents, built on distinctive features picked-up by users' memories of relevant life-events, and on adaptive virtual reality. The present contribution presents and discusses this novel approach and its similarities and dissimilarities with the previous ones, highlighting how personalized contents features can be identified and their possible applications and benefits in the field of relaxation and emotion regulation.

To trace similarities and differences between these 3 approaches, a list of features was built up ( Table 1), trying to describe their specific and common characteristics.

Table 1. Characteristics of the three main approaches to virtual reality for promoting relaxation or emotion regulation.

The First Approach: Relaxing VR

The first approach, which we will name "relaxing VR" (rVR henceforth), presents contents inspired or directly derived from classical relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training, yoga, meditation; typically, the user is shown environments that can help him/her feel safe. Often, virtual environments feature contents that are generically associated with pleasant, peaceful, non-arousing sceneries such as islands, parks, gardens and other open-space, generic nature-based environments. Indeed, as often used in imagery techniques too, these environments have proved to be a valuable means to reduce stress ( Baños et al., 2005; León-Pizarro et al., 2007; Villani et al., 2007; Felix et al., 2017), both in healthy and pathological contests (e.g., pain) ( Hoffman et al., 2011). Within the rVR approach, natural scenarios and visual or auditory natural elements have been frequently employed, showing a fair efficacy in several contexts ( Annerstedt et al., 2013; Anderson et al., 2017). For example, regarding sound features specifically, nature-based VR scenarios filled with natural sounds resulted in being more effective for stress reduction, compared with natural scenarios without them ( Annerstedt et al., 2013). These rVR interventions usually present users with multimodal stimuli, involving visual, auditory and haptic modalities to try lowering physiological activation, gaining control over body reactions. Thus, not only visual natural elements, but also auditory natural elements display some intrinsic relaxing properties ( Saadatmand et al., 2013). Apart from natural sounds, rVR scenarios present auditory stimuli that may include warm and calm voices, giving instructions to relax muscles, relieve stress and negative thoughts. Controlling breathe frequency and amplitude is another technique usually delivered by rVR narratives, in that breathing exercises are widely employed in clinical psychology ( Smith, 1999).

Relaxing VR is a useful application of VR because relaxation states, by lowering general arousal, are proven to have positive effects on cognitive and physical stress. The main aim of this first approach is to put users in a more or less passive state of relaxation, or to lower physiological arousal, inducing a positive state of well-being. This is the case not only of relaxation-focused interventions, but also of those interventions aiming at induce positive mood states, through the exposition to emotionally connoted scenarios ( Baños et al., 2004, 2008; Riva et al., 2007).

Importantly, such interventions induce a transitory state of relaxation or positive emotion ( Felnhofer et al., 2015). Users may come even to a deep relaxation state, but such physiological state and its benefits are usually not maintained for long in the everyday life and the VR experience could hardly be generalized to other contexts. Indeed, the purpose of rVR is to reach a positive state of well-being in the very moment of the VR exposure, rather than engage users in a learning process to gain new abilities. That's not to say that rVR cannot produce long-lasting positive effects, as relaxation or positive emotions can produce even medium and long term benefits on well-being, coping strategies and health ( Folkman and Moskowitz, 2000; Fredrickson, 2001; Tugade et al., 2004; Lyubomirsky et al., 2005; Pressman and Cohen, 2005; Cohn et al., 2009).

The Second Approach: Engaging VR

Targeting a learning process to empower users is in fact one of the core differences between rVR and the second approach that can be found in the literature, which we will label engaging VR (eVR henceforth).

Under the term "eVR," we classify those interventions that try to build learning processes about one's own emotional and behavioral abilities, giving users a flexible and modifiable environment. This kind of approach does not merely imply a passive visualization of the virtual environment or exposure to relaxing stimuli, rather it requires users to interact with virtual contents, permitting the acquisition of specific skills. It is the case of emotion regulation training in VR and of some therapeutic interventions in VR.

Broadly, emotion regulation refers to how individuals influence and express the emotions they experience and how they experience them, and it has been defined as "all of the conscious and no conscious strategies we use to increase, maintain, or decrease one or more components of an emotional response" ( Gross et al., 1998).

Virtual reality therapies have been employed for several psychopathological conditions: anxiety disorders ( Baños et al., 2011), specific phobias ( Parsons and Rizzo, 2008), eating disorders ( Ferrer-García and Gutiérrez-Maldonado, 2012; Ferrer-García et al., 2013), trauma and stress-related disorders ( Gonçalves et al., 2012), as well as other serious psychiatric conditions ( Maples-Keller et al., 2017a, b). VR therapy interventions have some characteristics in common with eVR, as the virtual environments vary according to the symptoms to be addressed.

A customized environment is used also in "stress inoculation training," which shares some similarities with VR therapies, and in particular with Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET). Based on the assumption that gradual exposure to fear-inducing stimuli can increase "mental readiness," stress inoculation training can train subjects' stress response capacity ( Bosse et al., 2014).

Training emotional reactivity in response to negative stimuli has resulted to be a valuable primary prevention intervention for burn-out and psychological functioning for different work categories ( Rizzo et al., 2008; Popović et al., 2009; Bosse et al., 2014) and it represents a case of eVR, as it aims to improve stress response capacity, targeting mental presence and emotional reactivity in stressful situations.

During the training, users are helped gain skills to cope with negative stimuli and feelings, managing the emotions they experience in a more functional way. By increasing emotional management, such interventions have an important impact on well-being and mental health functioning ( Serino et al., 2014).

For example, job interviews have been simulated in virtual environments to give participants the opportunity to exercise their ability to manage emotions before and after a 5-weeks long emotional skills training ( Villani et al., 2017). Also, VR applications have been used to train children with autism spectrum disorder to learn how to deal emotionally with everyday life social situations ( Ip et al., 2018).

For the sake of completeness, it is interesting to note that innovative resources to improve/exercise emotional skills come from the video games scenario. Indeed, the association between gaming experiences and real life abilities improvements has been established ( Lobel et al., 2014), with the capacity of video games to modulate arousal and interoceptive awareness. As highlighted by a recent review, commercial video games are valuable tools to improve emotion regulation capacities, training emotional intelligence and emotional strategies ( Villani et al., 2018). Many emotional experiences can be practiced when playing video games, ranging from primary emotions such as fear, pleasure and anger ( Rodríguez et al., 2015b; Wrzesien et al., 2015; Vara et al., 2016; Hemenover and Bowman, 2018), to complex emotions such as feeling "enriched" ( Oliver et al., 2016) or feeling socially engaged with other characters. The first kind of emotions is more contingent and easily induced, through narratives and ad hoc scenarios, while the latter is usually evoked by complex narratives, requiring for example characters that have a long and struggling journey ( Oliver et al., 2012).

Apart from entertainment, that of course is an emotional outcome of playing video games, players experience personally meaningful gaming experiences, encountering opportunities for introspection through the identification with characters and avatars ( Oliver et al., 2016).

Importantly, rVR and eVR approaches are far from being mutually exclusive, on the contrary they can be used conjointly. It is the case for example of the VRET, that, as in the traditional psychotherapeutic settings from whom it is derived, requires the patient to be systematically desensitized ( Marks and Gelder, 1965) within a combination of relaxation and exposure. The great majority of the VRET studies in fact combined the two approaches ( Maples-Keller et al., 2017a), with an initial phase with psychoeducational methods and breathing or relaxing exercises. The combination of both interventions has to be preferred, as in the traditional techniques and relaxation training on its own for specific phobia has shown reduced efficacy compared to exposure intervention ( Mühlberger et al., 2001).

The Third Approach: Personalized VR

The third approach, "personalized VR" (pVR henceforth), would be different from the previous ones, specifically for what concerns the choice and the construction of VR contents and environments.

Personalized VR would be in fact a user-centered approach to the design and implementation of the VR setting itself.

A pVR would be defined by two main characteristics, one relating to the design of VR contents, and the other to the technology to implement. The design aspect regards preliminary investigation about users' relevant life events, aiming to extract distinctive perceptive features of personal memories and experiences. If a relaxing environment has to be built, a preliminary inquiry about potential users' relaxing life events will be conducted, while for an emotional training VR, user would be asked for emotionally connotated memories. Such descriptions should be accurate, carefully recorded and should include multisensory details: visual, tactile, auditory and even olfactory elements.

Description should include multisensory elements, both to have detailed elements and to understand with which perceptive modality the user re-experience the autobiographical scene (sounds, temperature, and colors). User would also be explicitly asked about which stimuli they associate with this experience, trying to find out significant perceptive cues effective in memories elicitation ( Holland and Kensinger, 2010).

As a second step, distinctive features of such autobiographical life events and evoking cues would be rendered with symbols, activities or other virtual environments contents, through a qualitative analysis of users' descriptions (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. The extraction process of relevant information to build pVR, to inform the construction of personalized environments. Adopting a pVR approach does not mean to digitally re-create specific situations, but to understand which symbols/features could be digitally rendered in order to allow the participants recall ancient sensations.

The pVR approach would target autobiographical memories both because it is important to show the user's preferred places ( Fisher, 1974; Kyle et al., 2004; Korpela et al., 2008; Korpela and Ylén, 2009), and because recalling personal experience can bring sensorial and vivid feelings ( Rubin and Kozin, 1984; Tulving, 1985; Wright and Gaskell, 1992; Brewer, 1996; Rubin, 2005).

Not only user-centered approaches (e.g., based on users' feedback for content) have proved to be particularly effective in different applications of VR ( Parsons et al., 2009; Rizzo et al., 2011), but knowing which perceptive and contextual elements connote emotional memories can also help in emotion elicitation or emotion modulation, and can inform experimenters and developers on which elements have to be modulated or have not to be included, depending on the target of the intervention. pVR environments and stimuli would be built focused on the specific users' characteristics and, more specifically, on the environments features users give importance and relevance to, eventually acting as a cue for recalling personal past memories and enhancing users involvement.

The vividness of emotional engagement grows when something personal, related to the subjective experience, is presented. Re-evoking personal contents in fact enhance affective psychological states ( Picard et al., 2001; Witvliet et al., 2001), augmenting the capacity to elaborate memories and emotional experiences.

Previous studies have already proved that putting autobiographical stimuli within the VR environment helps give a vivid emotional connotation to the experience and enhance sense of presence ( Baños et al., 2004, 2008, 2009; Rey et al., 2005; Riva et al., 2007).

In the above-mentioned studies, different emotional states (such as relaxation, joy, sadness), were evoked through autobiographical stimuli presented in different sensorial modalities (picture, audio, music, autobiographical recall), suggesting that autobiographical contents in VR may play a valuable role in subjective emotional experience. This might constitute a relevant difference from the rVR and eVR, which typically lack of contents tailored on their users.

pVR would address stress and emotion regulation, both relying on complex circuit involving cognitive, behavioral and psycho-physiological responses ( Lang, 1968; Borkovec and Costello, 1993), targeting (a) a bottom-up modality with personalized stimuli and autobiographical cues and (b) addressing physiological correlates through adaptative methods. In a relaxing environment, element recalling previous safe place would enhance feelings of security and peace, while in an emotion regulation training, providing affective connotated stimuli could help emotion regulation and arousal modulation by giving the user the occasion to confront his/her own relevant life events ( Holland and Kensinger, 2010).

Relaxation can be guided for example with verbal instructions bringing attention to muscles activation and breathing ( Jacobsen, 1929; Miller, 1987), or induced through cognitive representations of positive thoughts and stimuli ( Tusek and Cwynar, 2000; Vempati and Telles, 2002). pVR can be modified according to the relaxing technique employed in the specific pVR intervention, rather it would stress user-centered environment and autobiographical engagement ( Holland and Kensinger, 2010) to enhance sense of presence and affective involvement. Furthermore, pVR would provide adaptative physiological mechanism, monitoring physiological parameters.

Differently from the studies employing unique autobiographical contents and stimuli, in which contents have to be specifically selected for each subject, the pVR approach would allow for a broader generalization, reached through the construction of a stimuli library, based on memories relevant features.

From a methodological point of view, user centered design techniques would be implemented as the foundation for the VR design. These techniques come from the user experience field, but they are not focused on evaluating technologies (e.g., in terms of usability and functionality), rather they are meant to be used before the tool or technology is created, in order to provide information to design in terms of users' needs, intentions and contexts of use ( Garrett, 2010; Triberti and Barello, 2016). On the one hand, techniques such as contextual inquiry (which is a field research method, a semi-ethnographic interview to be conducted within the place/context of interest) ( Holtzblatt and Jones, 1993) could be a valuable tool to enrich users' subjective testimony with objective measures and properties to be included in a personalized virtual environment; similarly, empathy maps, which are a visual diagram featuring user personas' experience and needs ( Curedale, 2016), could be used to systematize information on users to guide pVR implementation.

User Centered research could allow pVR to develop trans-situational knowledge about the most common or recurrent multi-sensorial features of relaxing experiences in order to develop a library of stimuli which can be used to approximate the personalized virtual scenario for each possible user.

The second main characteristic of the virtual tools created within a pVR approach, relating to technology to be implemented, is that of adaptive virtual reality ( Alcañiz et al., 2007, 2009; Parsons and Reinebold, 2012): in order to be really personalized, a virtual environment should be able to adapt its own contents to the user's state in the very moment of the interaction. In other words, pVR environments would feature integrated systems able to sense and analyze users' state by means of psychophysiological correlates, self-reported states, and observable behaviors in order to provide modifications to the virtual experience itself. Doing so, pVR would not be "user centered" only in the sense that user's pre-existing needs, experiences and memories are taken into consideration for design, but also personalized changes will happen within the virtual instance according to users' current state.

As written above, relevant properties of personal memories would be organized in terms of macro and sub-categories (e.g., perceptual aspects such as form and color of objects; content aspect such as the meaning to be communicated through discourses present in the VR; etc.) and the system would operate such properties dynamically during any VR instance, in order to maintain a set level of immersion and emotional reaction by the user, continually monitored through psychophysiological indexes.

In the future, from a technological point of view, such adaptation feature of virtual reality would be exploited within the merging of VR and Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI techniques, such as machine learning, deep learning and natural language processing (NLP) provide computers with reasoning and analytical capabilities that, until quite recently, it was possible to achieve only with standalone servers in specialized laboratories. Today, any field of knowledge can employ AI capabilities due to the development of cloud-based AI servers. Historically, AI has been associated to virtual reality technology mainly for what regarded the implementation of virtual agents ( Luck and Aylett, 2000). However, the implications of merging AI and VR for personalized VR experiences has been less studied. Research into VR focuses on computing techniques that bring humans with natural perceptual ways of interaction and new methods of thinking and learning in virtual and augmented environments. AI provides technologies that allow computers to mimic abilities that are exclusive to humans, such as intelligence and consciousness. These two fields have in common the enhancement of human abilities at a perceptual level and knowledge generation. The integration of both research fields will permit the development of more natural and realistic virtual environments in which humans and computers will interact naturally. The synergy between mixed reality interfaces, AI and the high-speed ubiquitous communication networks of the future will generate radically innovative human-human communication channels, with the intelligent processing of signals such as body movements, facial expressions, eye tracking, physiological variables and brain signals, among others. The majority of emerging technologies reports focus on three emerging technology mega-trends: AI everywhere, transparently immersive experiences and digital platforms ( Gartner, 2017).

In pVR, such technology will be employed to analyze multiple, integrated data about VR users' current state, to translate these into emotional information, and finally to modify the virtual stimuli. Recent studies ( Rodríguez et al., 2015a; Bermudez i Badia et al., 2018; Marín-Morales et al., 2018) showed that it is possible to apply machine learning techniques to measure specific emotions in VR, so to extract a set of psychophysiological and behavioral features to support autonomous emotion recognition.

Four main phases are imagined for development of pVR:

(1) Employing correlational research and focused user-centered interviews to gather information on common features of people memories about meaningful relaxing/positive experiences;

(2) Creating multiple versions of virtual environments based on recurring categories about sensations, concepts, and symbols in participants' testimony;

(3) Evaluating the adaptable virtual environments with a benchmarking approach, testing pVR products in comparison to already existing one, sharing common features with the pVR intervention of interest (aim, type of environment, adaptative or not, target users) (a) prior with already existing virtual scenarios in the field of relaxation or emotion training that can be find in commerce and (b) then the with those instruments that have been already scientifically tested;

(4) Developing adaptive virtual environments, based on the ability to analyze and exploit users' current states to adapt virtual contents to one's own present state.

Conclusion

The approach proposed in the present contribution promises to be an innovative advancement in the field of VR to positively manipulate the emotional experience of people. It is important to consider that the pVR approach is still in its infancy, or better, here it has been outlined in nuce only. However, it is possible not only to identify methodological guidelines to develop it, but also to highlight its possible limitations; specifically, it is still not very clear how to identify participants to the user research who would give developers the most meaningful information to start understanding relax/emotions personal experiences. Another issue related to sampling is connected to the inherently "personalized" nature of the VR contents within the pVR approach: participants could possibly report inadequate or unusable memories; for example, patients with chronic conditions tend to remember negative experiences because of the salience effect ( Renzi et al., 2016), which may make difficult for them to recall positive experiences before the onset of chronic pain or pathological stress. Secondarily, issues related to pVR implementation still need to be taken into consideration, such as its cost compared to other approaches. We speculate that pVR could bring efficacy advantages, compared to non-personalized approaches, despite its major costs, in particular in the field of clinical psychology interventions, where a more general personalization of contents (for example in the case of specific phobias and VRET) is already applied to embrace users specificity. Overall, personalized approaches and personalized medicine bring economic advantages, focusing on personalized needs and on effective interventions for specific patients ( Annemans et al., 2013). From an organizational point of view, being based on complex and possibly long-lasting user research, the pVR approach could be difficult to include within organizational practices (e.g., hospitals or other care facilities which employ VR for rehabilitation); indeed, its influences on practices by health professionals are not easy to prefigure and could generate risky courses of actions ( Fairbanks and Wears, 2008; Gilardi et al., 2014).

While future technological advances in VR and AI promise to enable richer user experiences, perhaps the greatest revolution that will be made possible by next-generation pVR involves the ability to collect, analyze and make use of unprecedented amounts of data, that is, bringing pVR into the age of "Big Data Psychology" ( Mitroff et al., 2015).

When the use of pVR sites become a commodity, there will be a large potential user base for pVR applications able to analyze huge sample sizes. The adaptation of A/B testing methods to pVR would give researchers the tools and the sample size to investigate the impact on patients of even minor changes in pVR. The combination of big data machine learning algorithms, capable of automatically identifying behavioral patterns and statistically predicting outcomes, will also continuously increase pVR efficacy. This analysis need not only be at a coarse level, aggregating data from millions of users, but might also be done at an individual level, for example, by learning which specific types of stimuli evoke a better patient experience in a particular user, and tailoring future scenarios accordingly.

Future research is needed to explore both the user research as main information guiding the design of pVR contents, and to test the efficacy of the first prototypes.

Author Contributions

SP conceived the work and wrote the first draft. KM contributed in conceiving the work and helped to refine the theoretical framework. ST and DM performed the literature search and contributed with writing to the final version. MAR contributed with important intellectual content and helped to refine the theoretical framework. GP supervised the whole process and contributed with important intellectual content. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, read and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

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Frontiers | User-Centered Virtual Reality for Promoting Relaxation: An Innovative Approach

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Virtual reality has been used effectively to promote relaxation and reduce stress. It is possible to find two main approaches to achieve such aims across the...

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Video Game Genres: Everything You Need to Know

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Video Game Genres: Everything You Need to Know

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Although video game genres were once fairly clear cut, that's simply not the case these days. There's a growing variety of genres and sub-genres to understand, especially as game developers mix and blend different types of games in new and unexpected ways.

That means the video-gaming landscape is constantly evolving. Studios work on tight schedules and follow trends when the opportunity arises. We're here to help you keep up. In our game genres list, we'll cover 10 of the most relevant video game categories today.

1. Sandbox

2. Real-time strategy (RTS)

3. Shooters (FPS and TPS)

4. Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)

5. Role-playing (RPG, ARPG, and More)

6. Simulation and sports

7. Puzzlers and party games

8. Action-adventure

9. Survival and horror

10. Platformer

Keep in mind that many genres have some degree of overlap with each other. Even in the early days of gaming, terms like "action" and "fighting" could cover a lot of titles. That's why many gamers prefer to use more specific names like those we'll cover in this article as a way to distinguish the style of gameplay.

1. Sandbox

The term "sandbox" may be more recognizable from its usage in tech or even as an open-ended mode available within certain games. It's often associated with player choice, open environments, and non-linear gameplay. The sandbox genre has grown from a small niche to encompass a huge variety of titles.

In these games, players often have less concrete goals and narrative pathways to pursue. Instead of beating the boss and saving the princess, you may face a variety of tasks you can accomplish in a number of different ways. This draws players into more immersive experiences, encouraging experimentation with what may be unfamiliar mechanics.

Sandbox titles can sometimes be highly conceptual and even lack some of the most recognizable gameplay elements. The 1984 game Elite is a key example, with a simple design and play focused on combat, exploration, and trading. It also showcased an early instance of procedural generation.

Simulation games like The Sims are also increasingly touted as sandbox titles, as are many popular franchises, including both and Grand Theft Auto. As game worlds expand and narratives diversify, expect more of an overlap with other gaming genres.

2. Real-time strategy (RTS)

Originally coined as a marketing term for Westwood Studios' Dune II, real-time strategy games were around for years before most players knew what the genre was. Thanks to their enduring popularity and the growth of new sub-genres, RTS games remain a conspicuous part of the video game landscape.

In the archetypal RTS title, Dune II human and AI players control different factions and compete against each other simultaneously in "real time" hence the term "real-time strategy," as opposed to turn-based strategy. These games typically include resource and map management, and they often feature a top-down view.

Warcraft, Age of Empires, and Command & Conquer are among the most popular RTS titles, but the list doesn't stop there. And when it comes to turn-based strategy games, enthusiasts tout the Civilization series and other notable franchises. There are also titles that deliberately blend elements of both styles for mixed gameplay, like the Total War franchise. To find out about more titles, check out our list of the best RTS games.

3. Shooter (FPS and TPS)

The shooter is another long-standing genre that developed several early offshoots and branched out into two primary sub-genres: the first-person shooter (FPS) and third-person shooter (TPS).

There's plenty of potential for overlap here, too, since many contemporary titles allow you to toggle between first and third-person viewpoints. Not only that, but most battle royale games - a sub-genre unto itself - operate as either first or third-person shooters, including and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

The key difference is perspective. An FPS simulates a typical human viewpoint, showing essentially what your in-game character sees in franchises like Half-Life, Call of Duty, and DOOM. A TPS pulls the perspective back and showcases your entire character and surrounding environment, such as in the Gears of War and Tom Clancy's The Division series.

The premise for these games is simple, but it's been repackaged in many ways over the years. Older players probably remember the earliest arcade and gallery-style shooters with on-the-rails gameplay and relatively simple environments. Then there are shoot-em-ups (or shmups) and bullet-hell games, both of which rely heavily on twitchy gameplay involving plenty of shooting.

While most shooter games split into FPS and TPS gameplay, they're frequently talked about as elements in other games. Grand Theft Auto V is an example of overlap. It rides the new wave of modern sandbox games, but it also has substantial TPS elements (and you can play it in first-person if you want). By contrast, the Halo series is primarily known for its groundbreaking FPS gameplay.

4. Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)

An increasingly popular subgenre with connections to a variety of other styles, multiplayer online battle arena games share many features with real-time strategy games. There's a top-down perspective that emphasizes map and resource management, plus real-time competition between players.

The major difference between MOBAs and RTS games is the player's character and role. In a MOBA, you may have a faction alignment and many of the RTS basics in play, but you typically only control a single character. That's a significant contrast with most RTS games, where you build communities and command multiple units.

MOBA games also prioritize multiplayer and team play. While some well-known titles feature AI-controlled elements, you usually play with and compete against other human players to meet a set of victory conditions.

The niche is dominated by Dota 2 and League of Legends, both of which have developed substantial audiences in eSports. Want to know more about this growing genre? Check out our list of the Top 10 Best MOBA Games for PC today to dive into the most popular titles.

5. Role-playing games (RPG, ARPG, and more)

The basic premise of the role-playing game is simple and ubiquitous in numerous games: you create or take control of a character that you can then level up through experience points. RPGs are a cornerstone of gaming, but no single game can represent the genre because it's grown and blossomed into numerous sub-genres. With that in mind, here are the most popular sub-genres with a short explanation for each.

RPG: Encompasses a variety of different niches and sub-genres, ranging from tabletop gaming with cards and dice (Dungeons & Dragons) to video game RPGs (Fallout).

ARPG: Action RPGs have a strong emphasis on combat but include many of the characteristics of a standard RPG, like The Witcher 3.

CRPG: "Computer RPG" is typically used to describe Western-developed RPGs created for PC gamers, like the first two Fallout games.

MMORPG: Combines the massively multiplayer online genre format with RPG gameplay, with notable titles like World of Warcraft, EVE Online, and Elder Scrolls Online.

TRPG: Short for tactical role-playing game, TRPGs resemble strategy games but place a deeper emphasis on creative thinking and short-term decision making, like the XCOM series.

Roguelike: Strict definitions feature turn-based gameplay, some form of permadeath, tile graphics, and procedural generation. However, many newer and popular examples, like The Binding of Isaac and Spelunky, focus more on action and platforming, respectively.

Roguelite: Does not include one or more key elements of a typical roguelike. Definitions for this sub-genre will vary, but Rogue Legacy is a widely accepted example.

6. Simulation and sports

These genres have evolved a lot over the years and you may actually see them in the same light. But it's only with advances in graphics technology that they've begun to offer unique immersive experiences. The latest iterations provide impressive levels of detail and showcase just how much is possible with games.

Sports games have expanded in variety, offering full-fledged partnerships with major sporting organizations, from race tracks to the field or court. NBA 2K and Madden NFL are two well-known examples that feature detailed recreations of professional basketball and football, while Forza is a simulation-style car racing game.

The simulation genre encompasses many sandbox titles, world-building games, and virtual reality games. The typical focus is on creating an immersive and realistic game world with epic scenarios, while smaller experiences may center on a particular area or experience.

Minecraft and The Sims are good examples of simulation games that also fit into the sandbox niche. For more reading on the sim genre, check out our article on the 6 Best Simulation Games on PC.

7. Puzzlers and party games

Puzzlers and party games also have a significant overlap, with both emphasizing game mechanics. You can expect to play a game based on a theme or a traditional tabletop game with particular rule sets.

Party games take that premise a little further and often include multiplayer elements. They also double-down on gameplay. The Mario Party series is particularly popular, and it spawned more than 10 installments and spin-offs.

Puzzlers, also known as puzzle games, can be as simple as Minesweeper or more deeply immersive, with fully developed environments and hybrid gameplay. The Tomb Raider series is a good example, where puzzles are built into a conventional adventure narrative and setting, making them a key game mechanic. Also, mini-maps are often presented as puzzles you solve (or uncover) throughout the course of the game.

Puzzler and party game examples

8. Action-adventure

Among the earliest recognizable hybrid genres, action-adventure games have a deep focus on plot and combat through story involvement and tight gameplay mechanics. As a result, many games can fit into this category, including the classic Legend of Zelda franchise that paved the way for numerous franchises.

Most users draw the line between action and adventure in how a game balances story and features like simulated combat. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series has been a mainstay since 2007 thanks to near-annual new releases featuring a high degree of immersion. They have also taken gamers to myriad locales and historical landscapes ranging from London during the Industrial Revolution ( Syndicate) to ancient Greece ( Odyssey).

Released in late 2019, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is another well-received action-adventure title from the folks at Respawn, who previously worked on the Titanfall series. Other more modern examples include the Watch Dogs series, Sekiro, and the Arkham games.

It's worth noting that adventure games encompass their own genre as well. Many of them fall into the point-and-click sub-genre, which typically involves players solving mysteries or puzzles in a first-person perspective. Think of classic titles like Escape From Monkey Island, King's Quest, and Day Of The Tentacle as mainstays of this sub-genre.

9. Survival and horror

Survival and horror games have a lot of overlap, to the point that they even created their own sub-genre (survival horror). In particular, horror games often share some basic features with their survival counterparts, though the reverse is less often true. As developers add more FPS and conventional shooter features to certain horror and survival titles, there's even ongoing debate about how to define these games.

The core mechanics of a survival game centers on resource management, often incorporating crafting or salvage systems that you can use to help keep your character alive. Minecraft is a popular standout, as is Don't Starve. And then there are games like The Long Dark, which focuses entirely on survival elements with a dedicated mode that increases difficulty.

Horror is an even broader category, arguably encompassing dozens of survival titles. Almost anything with zombies, a post-apocalyptic storyline, or loads of jump scares is considered horror. These titles are often psychological, too, and use tension to immerse the player in the game. On the pure horror side, you have games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Alien: Isolation, and Blair Witch. However, the most popular horror titles tend to fall into the survival-horror side of things, such as the Resident Evil and Evil Within franchises.

10. Platformer

Looking for a genre that hasn't changed much in concept over the years? When it comes to nostalgia and devotion to craft, the platformer genre covers a huge variety of games that still proudly showcase their roots in the earliest 2D side-scrollers. Platformers involve running, climbing, and jumping as the player explores and works their way through challenging levels.

Platform games feature a side view and simple controls, with Donkey Kong often considered the first true example. That game passed the torch to Super Mario Bros. and later Sonic the Hedgehog. Moving another several years forward, Naughty Dog's first Crash Bandicoot title found its audience with a different camera angle (head-on) and loads of charm.

Platformers are extremely popular with indie studios and gamers, as well as legacy releases. There are also plenty of RPG crossovers and excursions into even more obscure niches as well. Ori and the Blind Forest is a popular example that incorporates puzzles and adventure elements, as is Cuphead, which is both beautifully animated and deeply challenging.

Conclusion

The proliferation of new games and styles means the list of video game genres is constantly growing, primarily because developers are constantly pushing the boundaries of gameplay. And while it may all seem complicated at times, the variety is a strong indicator of just how healthy the gaming marketplace has become. It also means that, ideally, you have plenty of different types of video games to consider for your next session.

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Video Game Genres Everything You Need To Know | HP® Tech Takes

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Although video game genres were once fairly clear cut, that's simply not the case these days. There's a growing variety of genres and sub-genres to understand, especially as game developers mix and blend different types of games in new and unexpected ways. That means the video-gaming landscape is constantly evolving.

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The Official Rulebook for Choice in Video Games: An Examination

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The Official Rulebook for Choice in Video Games: An Examination

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of Choice in Modern Narrative Games

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Toxicity Detection in Multiplayer Online Games

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Toxicity Detection in Multiplayer Online Games

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Learning cultural heritage by serious games

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Learning cultural heritage by serious games

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Markku Eskelinen is an independent scholar and experimental writer of ergodic prose, interactive drama, critical essays and cybertext fiction.

He holds a cand. philol. in comparative literature and is now co-editing a series of Cybertext Year Books with Raine Koskimaa.

Excerpts from his early fiction were published in The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Summer 1996) according to which he's also "easily the most iconoclastic figure on the Finnish literary scene."

He has given paper and other presentations at various international conferences, including the series of Digital Arts and Culture conferences and the ACM conferences on Hypertext and Hypermedia.

by Markku Eskelinen

1. Introduction

The first point of departure for this article is a kind of paradox or contradiction. Outside academic theory people are usually excellent at making distinctions between narrative, drama and games. If I throw a ball at you I don't expect you to drop it and wait until it starts telling stories. On the other hand, if and when games and especially computer games are studied and theorized they are almost without exception colonised from the fields of literary, theatre, drama and film studies. Games are seen as interactive narratives, procedural stories or remediated cinema (1). On top of everything else, such definitions, despite being successful in terms of influence or funding, are conceptually weak and ill-grounded, as they are usually derived from a very limited knowledge of mere mainstream drama or outdated literary theory, or both. Consequently, the seriously and hilariously obsolete presuppositions of Aristotelian drama, commedia dell'arte, Victorian novels, and Proppian folklore continue to dominate the scene. To put it less nicely, it's an attempt to skip the 20th century altogether and avoid any intellectual contact with it, a consumerist double assassination of both the avant-garde and advanced theory. The final irony is of course that in the long run such a practice may turn out to be even commercially incorrect.

In any case, in what follows I'll try to make some sense of what I call the gaming situation by trying to pinpoint or at least locate the most crucial and elementary qualities that set it apart from dramatic and narrative situations, both of the latter being rather well-studied constellations by now, and existing slightly beyond the necessary formalistic phase that computer game studies have to enter in order to gain independence, or at least relative independence. Historically speaking this is a bit like the 1910s in film studies; there were attractions, practices and very little understanding of what was actually going on, not to mention lots of money to be made and lost.

As we study computer games, we need to have some idea of digital media as well as of games. For that purpose we'll use the theories of Espen Aarseth, Roger Caillois, Warren Motte and David Parlett in particular. They form a filter through which the possibly heuristic findings and borrowings from various neighbouring disciplines and predatory theory formations are viewed, tested, modified and transformed. While discussing articulation, materiality, functionality, typology and orientation, among other things, we are confronting the bare essentials of the gaming situation: the manipulation or the configuration of temporal, spatial, causal and functional relations and properties in different registers.

2. Gaming as configurative practice

Regarding the so-called remediation or cross-media influence the simplest possible statement would be that computer games are remediated games (and not presentations or narratives). So what are games then? According to David Parlett formal games are systems of ends and means (Parlett 1999, 3). The latter part consists of specific procedural rules of how to manipulate the equipment (pieces or tokens or whatever).

Figure 1. The gaming situation

Gaming is seen here as configurative practice, and the gaming situation as a combination of ends, means, rules, equipment, and manipulative action. There are one or two parallels to draw. First, the equipment (the "what" of gaming) and manipulation (the "how") of this ludology-in-progress resemble the story and discourse of narratology. Still, according to the famous statement of Christian Metz "one of the functions of narrative is to invent one time scheme in terms of another time scheme" (Metz 1974, 18). Contrary to this, in games there's only one necessary time scheme: the movement from the beginning to the winning or some other situation. In cases where another time scheme is invented, it is not as important as the first one.

In discussing computer games we should take into account the unique dual materiality of cybernetic sign production (see Aarseth 1997, 40), and the resulting difference between strings of signs as they exist in the game (textonic game elements) and strings of signs as they are presented to the player (scriptonic game elements). It may well be that events in computer games should be described in three interplaying registers. In addition to textonic events, there are two kinds of scriptonic events: prefabricated and completed. The former are events presented to the player, and the latter the combination of the former and the player's actions.

Another quick look at Espen Aarseth's typology of cybertexts (Aarseth 1997, 62-65) should make us see that the dominant user function in literature, theatre and film is interpretative, but in games it is the configurative one. To generalize: in art we might have to configure in order to be able to interpret whereas in games we have to interpret in order to be able to configure, and proceed from the beginning to the winning or some other situation (3).

In literature, theatre and film everything matters or is conventionally supposed to matter equally - if you've seen 90% of the presentation that's not enough, you have to see or read it all (or everything you can). This is characteristic of dominantly interpretative practices in general. In contrast, in computer games you either can't or don't have to encounter every possible combinatory event and existent the game contains, as these differ in their ergodic importance. Some actions and reactions in relation to certain events will bring the player quicker to a solution or help her reach the winning situation sooner or more effectively than others. There are events and existents the player has to manipulate or configure in order to progress in the game or just to be able to continue it. Events, existents and the relations between them can be described at least in spatial, temporal, causal and functional terms. It's equally self-evident that the importance of these dimensions varies from game to game and sometimes also within the phases and levels of an individual game.

3. The equipment: situations, events and existents

Situations. In order to understand the equipment side better, it's useful to explore traditional, but sophisticated accounts of narratives, stories and their basic components. According to Gerald Prince's well-known definition a narrative is "the recounting (as product and process, object and act, structure and structuration) of one or more real or fictitious events communicated by one, two or several (more or less overt) narrators to one, two or several (more or less overt) narratees." Before going into the details of this definition it is important to note one of its most obvious consequences: "a dramatic performance representing (many fascinating) events does not constitute a narrative either, since these events, rather than being recounted, occur directly on stage." (Prince 1987, 58) This is perhaps the most efficient way of distinguishing narrative situations from dramatic and performative situations. We can show the main differences among four major situations in the following chart:

Figure 2. Elements, activities and situations

So a mere story is not sufficient to make something a narrative, as there must also be a narrative situation implying the presence of narrators and narratees. To continue this digression, the story "always involves temporal sequence (it consists of at least one modification of a state of affairs obtaining at time t0 into another state of affairs obtaining at time tN), and this is its most distinctive feature" (Prince 1987, 59). This definition leaves the degree of causality between the situations and events making up the story open to a wide variety of tastes to the greater or lesser annoyance of plot-lovers. The latter often conceive stories as mere plots or closed sequences of events, in which case they should come to grips with games containing open series of events, and that probably can't be achieved without major revisions in their favourite narrative theories, which are not my concern here at all.

The fundamental constituents of the story are usually divided into events and existents. It should already be obvious that it is possible to combine existents and events in ways that do not form or become stories. In abstract games like Tetris there are settings, objects and events but definitely no characters. In addition there are events in games that change situations but do not convey or carry or communicate stories. A goal in a soccer game is an event that changes the situation, but there's no story in it; a goal is a goal is a goal. The same can be said for most actions and happenings in performance or circus art. The main thing is of course that any element can be turned into a game element, and only one element is enough to constitute a game if it allows manipulation, and this fact alone allows combinations not witnessed in narratives or drama. Consequently, both the number of game elements and the relations between them can be different in specific ways that are typical of (computer) games and only of them, and don't have to respect any conventions and traditional boundaries inherited from oral or written narratives, drama, theatre or films.

Events. In narratology, events are divided into actions and happenings based on their agency, and into kernels and satellites based on their relative importance. There's also a difference between punctual acts and more durational actions, and that's about it (Chatman 1978, 32-56). As games require configurative approaches from the players, satellites are of no importance to them, and in principle they could and should be skipped (something that's not advisable to do in interpretative practices). Instead of actions and happenings, we have user events and system events (or intransient and transient events) in computer games, and events are either independent or dependent of the player(5). Those latter could be divided into successful and unsuccessful ones that are a bit like happy and unhappy performatives in speech act theory(6), in contrast to true or false and more or less important narrative constatives describing (what exists and happens in) the fictive world(s).

Existents. Traditionally, existents are divided into characters and settings based on their significance for the plot, and they are also divided according to different degrees of permanence into identities, traits and moods (Chatman 1978, 267). Regarding the significance for a game, it is entirely a matter of usability or functionality, affecting equally well settings (or event spaces), objects, tools, NPCs and player representations. Consequently, in computer games the distinction between static settings and dynamic characters transforms into a more complex continuum of combinations, alterations, and middle terms, because the distribution of static and dynamic game elements doesn't have to mimic any practices in other modes of expression and communication.

4. Manipulation and articulation

In discussing Jacques Ehrmann's close reading of Huizinga and Caillois Warren Motte introduces three basic articulations suggested by Ehrmann's article: the relations of player to player, player to game and game to world (Motte 1995, 26-27). They can be combined with the most important types of potentially manipulatable relations in games: the temporal, causal, spatial and functional ones. The resulting preliminary taxonomical grid can be seen below (Figure 3).

Figure3. Manipulation and articulation

Let's take the player-to-player dimension first, as it helps to describe the player's position and positioning in the game. In this register static relations are those guaranteed to be and remain equal (or unchanging) between players in and during the game. Static temporal relations indicate turn-based arrangements whereas dynamic temporal relations refer to action taken in real time without fixed turns - here time is a resource not shared or distributed equally among players. Static and dynamic causalities are somewhat similar to intratextonic and textonic dynamics in cybertext theory (Aarseth 1997, 62), dynamic causality referring to the player's possibilities to add new elements triggering novel chains of causality into the game (e.g. by building characters, objects and rooms in a MUD). Spatial relations are static if the players can't change the spatiality of the game world in which case it's only a ready-made playground however complex it might be in other respects. In contrast, spatial relations among players are dynamic if the game space can be built or expanded by the players as in Civilization (7). The static and dynamic functional relations among players refer to the functional capabilities of their representations (characters) in and during the game: they can either acquire new qualities and capabilities in the course of the game, or not. One should also make a distinction between functional similarity and dissimilarity of available roles in a game, as whenever there's a team there is usually also a division of labour.

When discussing the third articulation, the relation of game to world, it should be remembered this is not an interpretative or referential question (or if it is then it focuses on the relation between the simulation and the simulated whatever the latter is interpreted to be). Instead of that I take it to be operational and pragmatic. Here the category of static relations implies ready-made relations not to be tampered with. This means that the game is every way closed or separated from the rest of the world. There are alternatives to this: causal, spatial, temporal and functional connections could well exceed the confines of a game (8). The dynamic dimension could then be understood as containing various violations of this default separateness of games.

The second articulation between the player and the game concerns first and foremost the aspect of manipulation or configuring: what relations can be affected, how deeply, for how long, under what conditions and so on. Basically, static relations can only be interpreted but dynamic relations allow manipulation. To continue any further with this, we must study our four types of relation (spatial, temporal, causal, functional) more closely and find suitable subcategories in each of them. That will be the focus of the latter half of this essay.

The static/dynamic opposition could be made more detailed by introducing the cybertextual concept of user function (Aarseth 1997, 64) that could easily be applied to our four major types of temporal, causal, spatial and functional relations. Each one of the latter may potentially be interpreted, explored, configured, or changed permanently with the constraint that at least one of these relations must always be configurable. For example: in Tetris the player can only interpret the space or arena (9), in adventure games the space exists to be explored; in Civilization the space can be configured; and in many MUDs you can build permanent new spaces and objects to be shared with other players. Obviously, there are totally irrelevant things too, but they may be important to learn too, as the concealed dividing line between relevance and irrelevance can be an essential part of the game structure.

5. Relations and properties

Causal relations. Let's say your character is an average U.S. president in a relatively complex environmental world simulation with climate changes. Your task is to represent the complexities of this world in a simple model the presidential puppet can comprehend and act upon, in a word to reduce them to suit his worldview. To prevent the game turning into an orgy of continuous annihilation, there's an extra mechanism for determining what the puppet can and can't do in the game: the central artificial intelligence responsible for running the president is responsive to a stock exchange and the second-by-second fluctuations in the market value of certain lobbying industrial complexes. The point being that in this pompous age of the Internet we could easily design computer games in which real-life or real-world parameters further limit the player's freedom of action.

The underlying question is where to limit or expand the system of causalities and dependencies; they can be networked to the user space too, that is, to a complex of home or office or mobile appliances communicating with each other via Bluetooth. The pokemons on the screen and in your living room will pretty soon be able to team up and steal your credit card numbers to order reinforcements. In a little less nightmarish setting, there's potential for connecting games and toys in a player's PAN (personal area network).

Spatial relations. The spatial dimension could be studied from the perspective of abstract animation as a combination of spatial co-ordinates and durational values of pixels, but that would not be a very useful way to approach movement within the projected spaces. In any case, and in addition to on- and off-screen spaces (all six types of the latter, see Burch 1973,17), it's also important to pay attention to the uses of both the sonic space (in anticipating visual events, building suspense and surprise, or preparing the player for the next encounter etc.) and the user space.

In some games the player may have to decide or try to decide exactly where some event should take place. In others, that's not possible or even important: the killing can happen everywhere in the arena, and only the rate of occurrence counts. There are at least four important factors affecting the possibilities and constraints of space: positioning, movement (including its freedom, speed and direction), the so-called point of view and the access to information. The latter dimension may have to be divided into interplaying channels, at least one each for audio, visual and textual information. Spatiality is also a matter of perception; one can only wonder why the military paradigm of complete clarity and visibility of targets is so prevalent in computer games. There are countless possibilities for conditioning the player's perceptions by playing with the sharpness of focus, lightning, visibility, distance, angle, transition and various continuity matches common to cinematic and pre-cinematic conventions of visual representation, in the spirit of Noel Burch's parametric cinema (see Burch 1973 and Bordwell 1985, 278-279). But for some reason, I can't blacken my opponent's screen.

Conventions. There are a few curiously infrequently discussed conventions of spatial representation in computer games. They concern reliability, subjectivity and normality. Ask yourself why 2D maps should always be reliable, or first- and third-person POV's compatible, why everything should be represented objectively to a player who is always assumed to be in a normal and not altered perceptual state - and why the space or spatiality in a game is seldom or never self-contradictory. Or why the player can move a virtual camera but doesn't have to deconstruct or reconstruct or peel its multi-layered images. Maybe the reason for these peculiarities is that we are still stuck with defining moving images in terms of pre-digital cinema and its reality-capturing mythology, and with the idea of the playground that can't be manipulated on the fly as all the players are supposed to share it as a neutral field all the time.

Unreliability. In narratives and many other kinds of fiction it is acceptable and sometimes even preferable that users are misled by being given wrong instructions. But in games the deliberate frustration of action seems clearly to be an intolerable option. One might think of unreliable maps giving false and incorrect information about the location of the player or of the objects he's seeking - that's something almost every writer would like to do, and almost every player and game designer to avoid - the explanation for this difference in taste lies perhaps in the ergodic (pseudo) physicality of the game. Or in the difference between two kinds of obstacles or modes: lies and riddles.

Interface. There is also an important connection or at least a functional similarity between computer games and so-called lower forms of cinema, especially the genres that cause or arouse physical reactions in the viewer-spectator, including melodrama (tears), comedy (laughing), horror (fear) and pornography (sexual excitement). Certain simulations, especially those loaded with action to be handled with quick reactions and excellent hand-eye-coordination, often cause physical or physiological reactions, the control of which is in the best interest of the player. In this respect computer games are situated in between physical and non-physical games.

This is also a question of interface as there's no reason why the playing of a game could not also be physically demanding or even exhausting - obviously to achieve the latter goal, we'd need paraphernalia very different from keyboards and joysticks, or the pressure mat of Dance Dance Revolution. The relation between the player's psychophysical presence and his or her virtual presence in a game is usually designed to be both control- and consciousness-oriented (another military paradigm). However, there are alternatives to this, like Brainscore by Slovenian media artists Darij Kreuh and Davide Grass, where the users' eye movements and brain waves direct audiovisual objects and processes. Fully conscious control is thereby denied, and the performers must stay in a relaxed state of body and mind in order to direct the presentation successfully. Brainscore is not a game, but its partly parasympathetic control mechanisms could be (and perhaps already are) transported into the realm of computer games.

6. Example of Temporal Relations: The Phenomenology of Tetris

Temporality can be studied using the same abstract categories as those used for narratives in narratology, since the categories are neither narrative nor game-like in themselves: order, speed, frequency, duration, simultaneity, and time of the action. These are specifications of both the actions of the player and the events the player encounters and is perhaps able to modify in the course of a game (10).

Janet Murray's approach to Tetris (Murray 1997, 143-144) is an ultimate counterexample to this. She's quite content to interpret this Soviet game as "a perfect enactment of the over tasked lives of Americans in the 1990s - of the constant bombardment of tasks that demand our attention and that we must somehow fit into our overcrowded schedules and clear off our desks in order to make room for the next onslaught." It would be equally far beside the point if someone interpreted chess as a perfect American game because there's a constant struggle between hierarchically organized white and black communities, genders are not equal, and there's no health care for the stricken pieces. Of course, there's one crucial difference: after this kind of analysis you'd have no intellectual future in the chess-playing community.

Instead of studying the actual game Murray tries to interpret its supposed content, or better yet, project her favourite content on it; consequently we don't learn anything of the features that make Tetris a game. The explanation for this interpretative violence seems to be equally horrid: the determination to find or forge a story at any cost, as games can't be games because if they were, they apparently couldn't be studied at all. In contrast, here's a provisional attempt to apply some key temporal concepts to Tetris, probably the most successful abstract computer game ever (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Temporal relations in Tetris (11)

The dominant temporal relation in (computer) games is the one between user time (the actions of the player) and event time (the happenings of the game)(12), whereas in narratives it's between story time (the time of the events told) and discourse time (the time of the telling). Despite possible hybrids the underlying restrictions of temporality remain the same: there's no narrative without story and discourse times and no game without user and event times - everything else is optional.

7. The goals and progression of the game

Goals and sub-goals could also be divided into spatial, temporal, causal and functional ones. At least it's usually easy to choose the dominant one of these, whether it's the task of traversing the space, completing something in time, plotting out an enemy, gaining more power and wealth in the game world, or something completely different. In order to understand the progression of a game it is important to study the deictic orientation of the player. Keir Elam's dramatological model divides this into spatial, temporal, object, person (13) and action deixis with the further specification between present and absent entities and processes (Elam 1980, 185-191). It might help us to see the difference between two game dynamics: the one between present and absent elements, and the other between present components.

Roger Caillois argued there are four broad types of games, those of agon (competition), alea (chance), mimicry, and ilynx (vertigo). In all these categories there's also an inherent division into paidia and ludus, similar to the distinction between play and game. It's only reasonable to suspect we can find different combinations of these eight possibilities distributed among and inscribed into the manipulatable relations of game components. It's also clear these broad types create different expectations and orientations in terms of goals, sub-goals and rules, and in the dynamics of ends and means; for example in ilynx and alea the player is a passive intrigant (14) whereas in agon and mimicry she has to be more active.

Not all of these components go or combine easily with the other elements, which is also the reason to use the concept of the dominant once more. This goes slightly against Caillois' study that excludes certain combinations like agon-ilynx and mimicry-alea - on the other hand I'm just arguing this is only or mainly a question of level and hierarchy. It should be easy to imagine a scene dominated by competitive orientation containing embedded elements of chance, role-play and vertigo, especially if the latter is taken to mean shocking or perceptually challenging action.

8. Conclusion

The old and new game components, their dynamic combination and distribution, the registers, the necessary manipulation of temporal, causal, spatial and functional relations and properties not to mention the rules and the goals and the lack of audience should suffice to set games and the gaming situation apart from narrative and drama, and to annihilate for good the discussion of games as stories, narratives or cinema. In this scenario stories are just uninteresting ornaments or gift-wrappings to games, and laying any emphasis on studying these kinds of marketing tools is just a waste of time and energy. It's no wonder gaming mechanisms are suffering from slow or even lethargic states of development, as they are constantly and intentionally confused with narrative or dramatic or cinematic mechanisms.

Finally, one could argue that computer games, literature and drama/theatre are all equally distant from the traditional or non-computer games where there's something at stake like death or some other irrevocable loss. I'm thinking about such all time classics as Russian roulette, certain events, actions and happenings that took place in the Roman arena and Mesoamerican ball courts, and extreme cases and consequences of serious gambling. If these are the roots of computer games too, then we may want to think what to think of possible hybrids of non-computer and computer games (to come via mobile phones and technologies like Bluetooth or X-10). And with thinking I actually mean thinking and not various kinds of moral panic witnessed before with comic books, videos, movies, rap, rock, jazz and other forms of popular culture.

Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank Gonzalo Frasca for getting me interested in ludology or game studies, Espen Aarseth for providing heuristic theory to be exploited and abused, Ragnhild Tronstad for valuable comments and suggestions during the writing process, and Julianne Chatelain for saving my English from myself. Needless to say, mistakes are all mine.
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Notes

1. "Curiously", there are no attempts to define games as narratives in Elliott M. Avedon's and Brian Sutton-Smith's classic The Study of Games (1971) that contains and compresses a century of Western game studies. The words and contested concepts like narrative, story, drama, or theatre do not come up even in its subject index. So should we believe that suddenly, by the advent of computer games, games turned into narratives? Maybe something happened in the marketing department instead.

2. Gonzalo Frasca divides rules into paidia rules defining how the simulation functions and ludus rules defining the winner or the outcome of a game (Frasca 2001, 9). The concepts of paidia and ludus were coined by Roger Caillois in his classic study of games Les jeux et les hommes (see Caillois 1979).

3. Despite occasional references I'll exclude MUDs from consideration in what follows. MUDs and MUD adventure games may very well turn out to contain situations, events and functions too complex to be fully or adequately conceptualised by the scheme presented here, or perhaps within any one traditional scheme, be it narrative, performance, or games. See Tronstad 2001.

4. The distinction between matrixed and non-matrixed performances is based on Michael Kirby's "The New Theatre". For example: "The actor functions within subjective or objective person-place matrices. The musician (...) is non-matrixed. He attempts to be no one other than himself, nor does he function in a place other than that which physically contains him and the audience." (Kirby 1982, 326) It should also be clear that I'm not reducing theatre here to the most boring theatre of words, as there is a huge continuum and variety of theatre and performance art, and matrixed and non-matrixed performances, between the two extreme positions presented in Figure 2. In other words, the "dramatic" is just an extremely story-oriented form or genre of matrixed performances. Alternatively, we might perhaps construct another continuum from interpretative (theatre) to non-interpretative (performance art) and configurative (games) performances.

5. For more detailed description of events one could apply four cybertextual categories, those of dynamics, determinability, transience and perspective. This would give us 24 basic types of events.

6. On theatrical and real performatives, and performatives turning into constatives in MUD adventures and quests see Tronstad 2001.

7. Alternatively, one could state computer games are usually spatially static in contrast to physical games like soccer and mobile games, where the players constantly change their (physical and spatial) positions to each other.

8. These transgressions could be modelled after gambling, hybrid games, Noah Wardrip-Fruin's The Impermanence Agent, or the presidential example coming up later in this article.

9. We should make a distinction between the arena or spatial setting and the operational space it gives to the player. The former is only interpretable in Tetris while the latter changes throughout the game.

10. For more detailed specifications see Eskelinen 2001. There might very well exist other temporal categories worth examining than the six mentioned here. See for example Eskelinen and Koskimaa 2001.

11. Explanation: dotted line = non-existent relation, X= non-manipulatable relation, 0 = manipulatable relation. Discourse time in narratology is similar to event time in ludology. The former could be seen as a series or a combination of individual event times, either fixed or semi-fixed as in print or hypertext narratives or variable as in games. Still, because the time needed to complete a game usually varies considerably from player to player I prefer to call it event time instead of discourse time.

12. See Aarseth 1998b, 31-41.

13. Person (and object) deixis could be combined with Elliott M. Avedon's interaction patterns. See Avedon 1971, 424-425.

14. On intrigants, intrigees and intrigues in adventure games see Aarseth 1997, 97-128.
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References

Aarseth, Espen (1997) Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Aarseth, Espen (1998a [1995]) "Dataspillets diskurs" in Espen Aarseth, Digitalkultur og nettverkskommunikasjon, 75-98. Bergen: Espen Aarseth

Aarseth, Espen (1998b) "Aporia and Epiphany in Doom and The Speaking Clock: Temporality in Ergodic Art" in Marie-Laure Ryan (ed.) Cyberspace Textuality, 1-14. Bloomington and Indianapolis: University of Indiana Press

Aarseth, Espen (2001) "Allegories of Space. The Question of Spatiality in Computer Games" in Markku Eskelinen and Raine Koskimaa (eds.) Cybertext Yearbook 2000, 152-171. Saarijärvi: Publications of The Research Centre for Contemporary Culture, University of Jyväskylä.

Avedon, Elliott M. (1971) "The Structural Elements of Games" in Elliott M. Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith (eds) The Study of Games, 419-426. New York: Wiley

Avedon, Elliott M. and Brian Sutton-Smith (1971) The Study of Games. New York: Wiley

Bolter, Jay David and Richard Grusin (1999) Remediation. Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press

Bordwell, David (1984) Narration in the Fiction Film. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press

Burch, Noel (1973 [1969]) Theory of Film Practice. Translated by Helen R. Lane. Princeton, NJ: Praeger

Caillois, Roger (1979 [1958]) Man, Play, Games. Translated by Meyer Barash. New York: Schocken Books

Chatman, Seymour (1978) Story and Discourse. Ithaca: Cornell University Press

Ehrmann, Jacques (1968) "Homo Ludens Revisited" in Yale French Studies 41: 38-57.

Elam, Keir (1980) The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. London: Routledge

Eskelinen, Markku (2001) "Towards Computer Game Studies". Forthcoming in the proceedings of SIGGRAPH 2001.

Eskelinen, Markku and Koskimaa, Raine (2001) "Discourse Timer - Towards Temporally Dynamic Texts" in Dichtung Digital, June 2001. Available online at http://www.dichtung-digital.de

Frasca, Gonzalo (1998) "Ludology meets Narratology " http://www.jacaranda.org/frasca/ludology.html

Frasca, Gonzalo (2001) Videogames of the Oppressed: Videogames as a means for critical thinking and debate. MA thesis, School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology. Available online at http://www.jacaranda.org/frasca/thesis

Genette, Gerard (1980 [1972]) Narrative Discourse. Translated by Janet E Lewin. Ithaca: Cornell University Press

Genette, Gerard (1988 [1984]) Narrative Discourse Revisited. Translated by Janet E Lewin. Ithaca: Cornell University Press

Kirby, Michael (1982) "The New Theatre" in Richard Kostelanetz (ed.) The Avant-Garde Tradition in Literature, 324-340. Buffalo: Prometheus Books

Metz, Christian (1974) Film Language. A Semiotics of Cinema. New York: Oxford University Press

Motte, Warren (1995) Playtexts. Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press

Murray, Janet (1997) Hamlet on the Holodeck. New York: The Free Press

Parlett, David (1999) The Oxford History of Board Games. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press

Prince, Gerald (1982) Narratology. The Hague: Mouton

Prince, Gerald (1987) The Dictionary of Narratology. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press.

Tronstad, Ragnhild (2001) "Performing the MUD Adventure" in G. Liestoel, A. Morrison, and T. Rasmussen (eds.) INNOVATIONS -Media, Methods and Theories. The MIT Press (forthcoming)

Wardrip-Fruin, Noah (1999) The Impermanence Agent. http://www.impermanenceagent.com/agent
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The first scholarly journal on computer games

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Choice-based games and resilience building of gender nonconforming individuals: a phenomenological study

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Choice-based games and resilience building of gender nonconforming individuals: a phenomenological study - Author: Yuri Cantrell, Xiaohua Awa Zhu

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Star Wars Battlefront II Lets You Pay Real Money For Multiplayer Advantages

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Star Wars Battlefront II Lets You Pay Real Money For Multiplayer Advantages

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tar Wars Battlefront II Lets You Pay Real Money For Multiplayer Advan

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Star Wars Battlefront II has everything you love from the movies: lightsabers, starfighters, and loot crates. These crates are crucial to the game's multiplayer structure but even after being tweaked in response to widespread criticisms during the beta, they're a mess that affects balance in negative ways.

Battlefront II's progression system is tied to equippable items called Star Cards. These cards grant special bonuses, such as increased health and faster ability cooldowns. Some cards have highly specific bonuses: for instance, you can equip the Tactical Jammer card to your starfighter and it will increase the length of time it takes for enemies to lock onto you. Each star card also has a rarity level. This means a rare "blue" star card will grant a bigger bonus than the lower "green" card. After widespread negative responses to the game's beta and accusations that the game would be "pay to win," the developers removed the most powerful tier of cards from crate s. You can now only get those cards from crafting them or completing in game achievements.

The main way you get the non-epic cards is through loot crates. There are three kinds of crates: one for soldier abilities, one for ship abilities, and one for hero abilities. These crates will randomly grant star cards when you open them. To get crates, you can either play matches to earn a generic currency called "credits" you can spend real world money for a premium currency called crystals.

It is also possible to craft new cards and upgrade any you already own with crafting parts, which are also found in loot crates. In order to limit players from immediately crafting epic cards, each upgrade has two requirements: you must be at a certain player rank and the class must be at a certain card level.

This is where is all really starts to break down. A class's card level is based on the number of cards you have; the more cards you own, the higher your level will be. So it's possible to boost your levels simply through purchasing crates. If you do that, the only thing that will prevent you from crafting the best cards is your player rank, which is increased by playing multiplayer matches and rises at a brisk pace.

But you don't even have to play that many matches to use the best stuff. If you manage to find a card of a rarity higher than what you can craft, you can still equip it. Rank and card level requirements only prevent players from upgrading their cards. They do not stop players from equipping rare cards. For instance, I received a blue card for my rocket trooper that granted increased health regeneration. I could equip it right away even though my player rank was too low to craft blue cards

Let's say someone spends $99.99 for a ton of crystals and opens all of their crates. By the end of that process, they will likely have acquired a few rare cards that grant noticeable bonuses and give them a competitive edge at launch. They will also increase their card levels for their classes, removing one barrier for crafting upgrades. Throughout that process, they will also get countless crafting parts to stockpile. The only thing that prevents them from crafting the best cards is their player rank. They will spend a handful of hours in multiplayer matches, already equipped with better cards than other players, and quickly increase their rank. If they've planned ahead and have enough crafting parts, they will immediately be able to craft the best cards in the game.

In other words, you can quite literally pay money for statistical advantages in Star Wars Battlefront II.

Given an infinite amount of time to grind credits and purchase loot boxes, everyone could have epic cards and Battlefront II could be perfectly balanced. Unfortunately, players are not ageless orbs with nothing to do but play Battlefront. (Well, most players.) When you only have so much time to play and other players can get an advantage from buying crates, the temptation to spend money and get some of your own will be high.

Loot crates are already predatory in design. They strictly manage probabilities and reward schedules in order to trick players into buying "just one more." Animators and sound designers work meticulously to make the process of opening loot crates pleasurable and exciting. Loot crates are made to dazzle, delight, and encourage repeat purchases. Publishers are coming up with some silly new ways to describe these microtransactions and have explored various tactics, like special matchmaking algorithms, to tantalize players and squeeze them for every penny.

Here's the kicker: Battlefront II is fun. The multiplayer reworked how hero characters work and made things a little bit faster. The loot crates add an unnecessary layer of complication, upset the game's balance, and exist entirely to screw you over. To quote famed senator Padmé Amidala: "So this is how multiplayer dies. With thunderous loot crates."

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Exploring Cyberbullying and Other Toxic Behavior in Team

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Exploring Cyberbullying and Other Toxic Behavior in Team

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Competition Online Games

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Verified play, precarious work: GamerGate and platformed authenticity in the cultural industries

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Verified play, precarious work: GamerGate and platformed authenticity in the cultural industries

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Verified play, precarious work: GamerGate and platformed authenticity in the cultural industries - Nelanthi Hewa, Christine H. Tran, 2023

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This article argues that GamerGate, a critical hashtag event in the history of digital harassment, is key to understanding contemporary identity verification sy…

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Playing with Trauma: Interreactivity, Empathy, and Complicity in The Walking Dead Video Game

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Playing with Trauma: Interreactivity, Empathy, and Complicity in The Walking Dead Video Game

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(Open Access) The Online Disinhibition Effect (2004) | John R. Suler | 2876 Citations

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(DOI: 10.1089/1094931041291295) While online, some people self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely than they would in person. This article explores six factors that interact with each other in creating this online disinhibition effect: dissociative anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection, dissociative imagination, and minimization of authority.

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The Bad Boys of Cyberspace: Deviant Behavior in a Multimedia Chat Community

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The Bad Boys of Cyberspace: Deviant Behavior in a Multimedia Chat Community

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The Bad Boys of Cyberspace: Deviant Behavior in a Multimedia Chat Community

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This paper describes the varieties of mild and more severe forms of deviant behavior in the avatar community known as The Palace. Published in the journal CyberPsychology and Behavior.

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Serious Games for Immersive Cultural Training: Creating a Living World

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Serious Games for Immersive Cultural Training: Creating a Living World

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GTA 5 'fastest-selling entertainment product ever'

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GTA 5 'fastest-selling entertainment product ever'

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Grand Theft Auto 5 has passed another sales milestone after shifting £1bn worth of copies across the world in just three days - making it the fastest ever entertainment product to reach the magic sum.

The game had already smashed sales records when it was released on Tuesday, selling 1.57m units in the UK alone and setting new records in game sales here.

However a statement released by Take Two Interactive Software, who released the game, said that its enormous popularity had led to the even greater achievement.

'Grand Theft Auto V, the critically acclaimed latest release from the iconic interactive entertainment series, has achieved worldwide retail sales of more than one billion dollars during its first three days on sale, according to company estimates,' the company said.

'We believe this marks the fastest that any entertainment property, including video games and feature films, has reached this significant milestone.'

Take Two's chairman Strauss Zelnick described the game as a 'cultural phenomenon', adding: 'We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical and commercial response to Grand Theft Auto V.'

GTA 5, which was developed by Edinburgh-based Rockstar North and is available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, has been five years in the making and reportedly cost around £170m.

Fans queued across the UK in a bid to be among the first to get their hands on a copy of the game, with stores staying open late for the launch at midnight on Tuesday.

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GTA 5 'fastest-selling entertainment product ever'

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Grand Theft Auto 5 has passed another sales milestone after shifting £1bn worth of copies across the world in just three days.

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9 Ways To Raise Your Honour In Red Dead Online

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9 Ways To Raise Your Honour In Red Dead Online

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Honour was a commodity in the Old West, those without it were feared and those with it were respected. In a time when an outlaw was only as good as their word, it makes sense that Red Dead Redemption 2's honour system has made a return in Red Dead Online.

Related: Every Role In Red Dead Online, Ranked

Your honour dictates the type of missions you're offered, with scumbags offered killings and burglaries, and white knights offered more noble jobs. Lower honour will also make people become more irritated with you and cause shops to raise their prices, perhaps as a sort of tax for all of their customers you've probably robbed or murdered.

Updated June 11, 2023, by John Wildermuth: Although Red Dead Online may have been released many years ago, there is still a large amount of players logging on every day, ready to experience the perils and thrills of the wild west. Similar to the honour system found throughout the single-player storyline of Red Dead Redemption 2, the online world carries this feature over, allowing you to only participate in certain missions depending on your honour level. We have decided to update this article to provide you with the latest methods of becoming an honourable player.

You're going to spend a lot of time on your horse in Red Dead Online, in many different situations, so it's important to look after it. An outlaw is incomplete without their trusty steed, after all.

Brushing, feeding, and calming your horse will all raise your honour a little bit. It may not be the fastest way to raise your honour, but it'll build up over time.

Just remember to buy a brush and constantly attend to your horse's needs. What's nice about these little boosts is that you'll accumulate them just through the course of normal gameplay, meaning your honour will get higher without you even noticing.

This method is only available to people who unlock the Naturalist Role and is a quick and easy way to earn both money and honour. Sedating animals with your varmit rifle will allow you to take samples from them, which you can then sell for a profit at different vendors.

Invest some of that money back into animal reviver, and you'll get a nice honour to boost every time you wake one of those critters up after taking some of their blood. Be careful reviving predators though, as they might not take kindly to you helping yourself to their precious blood.

7 Deliver Bounties Alive

One of the most tried and tested ways of achieving high honour in Red Dead Online is by delivering bounties alive. This may be more challenging if you are just starting your career as a bounty hunter, but a reinforced lasso or a prison wagon will soon make this job incredibly easy.

Related: Awesome Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In Red Dead Online

It may be tempting to stop them squirming by just riding your target with bullets, but if you want to raise your honour quickly and get a bit of cash and gold while you're at it, then going the extra mile to bring bounties in alive will actually raise your honour.

If you've played Red Dead Online for any amount of time, chances are you've been ambushed by a pack of wolves. Now, you could run away, but if your horse gets spooked and bucks you, you have to stand your ground and fight.

Once the dust has cleared, skin all the animals, and you'll get an honour reward for making the most of your kills. This happens with the animals you hunt too, just make sure you aren't just killing for fun, actually, take the time to skin the animals and sell their pelts to ensure you stay resourceful and honourable.

Fishing is a great activity that can help you become honourable in Red Dead Online. Not only does it increase your health stat and earn you a tidy profit, but throwing back smaller fish will boost your honour.

Giving them a chance to live and grow before you yank them out of the water again via a hook to the mouth is seen as an honourable thing to do. Apparently, they forget about the whole painful and terrifying tug-of-war you put them through and just let bygones be bygones.

4 Spare Hideout Leaders

Clearing hideouts is a fun part of Red Dead Online. You can either go it alone, if you fancy yourself brave enough, or enlist the help of a posse.

Either way, once you clear out all the goons, you're left with a choice: spare or kill the leader?

Now, it may seem stupid to let the leader live seeing as how they'll probably just start a new gang you have to shoot through, but apparently honourable and silly are the same thing. Show them mercy and give them a chance to atone for their sinful past.

This will help you on your path to high honour in RDR2 Online.

3 Train Clerk And Stranger Missions

Train Clerk missions and Stranger missions are marked by little orange symbols on your map. Depending on your current honour level, you'll get offered different jobs.

Some will have you stealing something, while others will have you returning something (stealing something back).

Related: Great Ways To Earn Money And Gold Fast In Red Dead Online

Fortunately, all these missions tell you before you accept them how they'll affect your honour, so you can steer clear of any effects you don't want. You'll also get a bit of cash for your troubles, so these are a pretty useful tool.

Be warned, though, some Strangers are harder to find than others.

While all the previous tasks can be completed completely alone, it can be advantageous to treat the other players in your game with respect to raise your honour. Since being violent towards townspeople negatively affects your honour, you can also become dishonourable by attacking other players constantly.

While this will not happen after your first kill, you should be wary of going on a massive killing spree. Furthermore, you can complete online story missions with other players, that can specifically raise or lower your honour level.

If you really can't be bothered to actually play the game, or you just want to dive into some story missions that are locked behind an honour wall then you can just pay to have your honour level raised quickly.

Be warned though, it isn't cheap. It costs three gold bars to raise your honour, and you can do this at one of several vendors located around the map. The easiest one to travel to is located near Strawberry.

Next: Red Dead Online Complete Guide And Walkthrough

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9 Ways To Raise Your Honour In Red Dead Online

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Honour is a big part of your character in Red Dead Online, and there are ways to both raise and lower it.

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Star Wars Battlefront 2's Loot Boxes Seem Like They're Going To Be A Serious Problem

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Star Wars Battlefront 2's Loot Boxes Seem Like They're Going To Be A Serious Problem

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"Let me get this straight, they're designing a loot box system based almost entirely around power upgrades?"

That's what ran through my head when I first heard that as a trade-off for free map and hero DLC, Star Wars Battlefront 2 would be turning to a loot box-based microtransaction model instead. But instead of focusing on cosmetics, the loot boxes would be the cornerstone of the entire progression and upgrade system of the game.

Loot box controversies have hit Forza 7 and Shadow of War recently, but after this weekend's Battlefront 2 beta, I'm sensing another storm brewing, and frankly, I'm a bit surprised I haven't heard more about it to date.

While I liked most of what I saw in Battlefront 2 's beta this weekend in terms of actual gameplay, the loot boxes did give me pause, and the entire system seems as strange as it did when it was first announced months ago. Granted, it is somewhat hard to tell how the system will work in a live game, as the contents of the boxes will expand, credit accumulation may be different and of course, there will be a way to purchase these loot boxes outright, as that is the entire monetization model of the game (other than selling it to you for $60, of course).

But in an era when the one type of loot boxes that are usually seen as acceptable are the ones based around cosmetic upgrades, Battlefront 2's boxes are unabashedly entirely about power upgrades. The "Star Card" system gives you flat damage upgrades, reduces damage taken, decreases cooldowns, gives modifiers to skills, doles out new weapons, and so on. The only cosmetic item I've even seen in a Battlefront 2 loot box so far has been a victory pose for the MVP screen.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. Yes, you are able to buy loot crates with in-game currency by simply playing the game. You accumulate them at a somewhat decent clip in the beta, but it's hard to know how that will play out in the final game (these accumulation rates usually slow down over time as we've seen for loot boxes in Overwatch, Destiny 2, etc.). But eventually, a system will go live where players will be able to purchase loot boxes with cash, and then that raises a whole host of new questions.

The primary one is "does this make Battlefront 2 pay-to-win?" Pay-to-win is a weirdly nebulous concept these days. In a game like say, Pokémon GO, players can shell out for lures and incense and XP boosting eggs, and while that will get them more Pokémon (and more powerful Pokémon) than others, the game itself does not really have a "win state," so technically, by definition, it can't be pay-to-win. Battlefront 2, a mostly multiplayer-based game, does have clear winners and losers each match, but obviously player skill and teamwork will by far the biggest deciding factors. A great player with zero Star Cards will probably be able to take down a player with maxed Star Cards.

But that's a very specific case. On average, a team full of players with high-end Star Cards is probably going to beat a team with lower-end Star Cards, not to mention the folks that would pay/grind for those top-tier upgrades may also play more/be higher skilled to begin with. And if these loot boxes are purchasable from the get-go, yes, I can imagine that players who buy say, 50 boxes on launch day will be at an advantage over someone who is going to grind out 50 boxes over the course of the next month, even if the "opportunity" is there for them to get the same amount of crates when one pays and one doesn't. And even if the skill gap is what largely determine who comes out on top, not these upgrades, it's still psychologically frustrating to be killed by an enemy and have the game show you that they have top-tier Star Cards equipped when you don't. That seems like a power move on EA's part to make players think "well shoot, maybe I should buy some loot boxes if I want to compete." Or in contrast, players may just think it sucks and they go play a different game that's less irritating. This system also raises the question of what happens when a new player shows up six months down the road and enters a game where not only are they a new player, but their enemies are stacked with 10% increased damage, 30% lower cooldown and 20% increase fire rate Star Cards while they have almost nothing. How can they even compete at that point?

But past the "pay-to-win" debate, what's almost more troubling to me is how Battlefront 2's loot boxes represent the twisting of the entire progression system of the game, which was torn down from a perfectly fine base and rebuilt using randomized loot box drops as a basis for advancement instead. In short, Battlefront 2 's core progression and unlock mechanics have been flat-out made worse to accommodate a loot box economy.

Call of Duty, though the series has also gotten its own type of loot boxes lately, still mostly remains rooted in the a variant of the same progression system it's had for ages. You play more with a gun, you unlock more things with that gun. You play with a class, you unlock more skills for that class. Eventually, when COD realized that players were tired of grinding past milestones for things they did want, they instituted a kind of token system where you could unlock stuff in whatever order you wanted, earning more tokens the more you played.

Battlefront and Battlefield have also had some version of this system where playing more as a sniper/medic/fighter pilot/tank driver would unlock more options for those guns/vehicles/classes. But with Battlefront 2, that has all been scrapped and replaced with a loot box system that is almost entirely random, and only is not random when you're getting crafting components from loot boxes that may allow you to fashion a specific upgrade or weapon every once in a while.

This system is just miles worse than a traditional progression system that allows players to choose what they want to upgrade. While loot boxes could work in a game like this sprinkling in extra stuff here and there, used as the entire core of the progression system, it's beyond frustrating. You're now not just grinding for upgrades, your grinding for the chance at an upgrade that you actually want, and not only that, things like class rank are now determined by how many Star Cards you have for that character, not how much XP/kills/etc. you've gained with that character. That strikes me as mildly insane.

There is a world where yes, I can imagine Battlefront 2 selling loot boxes with different cosmetic armor variations or ship decals or gun skins or emotes or what have you, but instead they've integrated loot boxes into the very DNA of the game, making them the root of the progression system and without question, instituted a system where they are flat-out selling power.

This is bad. To me, it's worse than the recent Forza and Shadow of War situations, given that the loot boxes are completely unextractable from the game, as they make up the entirety of its progression system. What EA and DICE are doing here is genuinely something I've never seen done before with loot boxes, and I feel like it has the potential to go very, very wrong.
Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook. Pick up my sci-fi novel series,The Earthborn Trilogy, which is now in print, online and on audiobook.

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Star Wars Battlefront 2's Loot Boxes Seem Like They're Going To Be A Serious Problem

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Star Wars Battlefront 2's loot boxes sell powerful upgrades and are the entire core of the game's progression system. This has the potential to cripple an otherwise great game.

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Grand Theft Auto: every game and controversy explained

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Grand Theft Auto: every game and controversy explained

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GTA is a series of crime-drama video games set in fictionalised cities (mostly) around the US. In each game, the player takes on the role of a criminal (or criminals) navigating the violent underworld of modern America, stealing cars and carrying out missions and heists for a range of shadowy kingpins. The later games in particular are home to vast, freely explorable cities or states and, outside of missions, players are free to do whatever they want, whether that's exploring the countryside on a bike or taking on side jobs for car thieves, drug smugglers or corrupt politicians.

The original Grand Theft Auto was designed by a Dundee-based studio, DMA Design, which also produced the famed platforming series Lemmings. At the time, the game was an unloved project and publisher BMG Interactive almost canned it several times. Now it is one of the most successful franchises in existance, created by developer Rockstar's studios across the world, and led from Edinburgh by Rockstar North.

Grand Theft Auto (1997)

In this first instalment, players choose a character from eight possible options, then run around three crudely drawn cities viewed from a top-down perspective - Liberty (based on New York), San Andreas (San Francisco) and Vice City (Miami) - stealing cars, running over pedestrians and completing jobs for a powerful hoodlum. Released on the PlayStation and PC, it quickly attracted media outrage for its amoral violence. BMG Interactive hired publicist Max Clifford, who decided to stoke the controversy, resulting in then Scottish secretary Lord Campbell of Croy condemning the game in the House of Lords. Two expansion packs, GTA London 1969 and London 1961, followed - they are so far the only GTA games that take place outside the US.

Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)

Set in the futuristic Anywhere City, the sequel looks almost identical to its predecessor, with the same top-down visuals, anonymous lead character and open-world, mission-based gameplay. However, it adds the concept of competing crime syndicates, which the player can work for, gaining respect and unlocking better tasks. It also allows you to take on legal side jobs such as taxi driving and parcel delivery. It is largely forgettable, apart from the fact it came with an eight-minute live-action movie intro, and was the only GTA game to appear on Sega's Dreamcast console.

Grand Theft Auto III (2001)

Designed by new studio Rockstar North following the closure of DMA Design, this game marked the beginning of the modern GTA era. The concept of carrying out illegal jobs for criminal gangs remained, but now the lead character had a backstory: he was seeking revenge, having been double-crossed after a heist. Vitally, it was also the first game in the series to use a fully 3D environment: an overhauled take on the NYC-themed Liberty City. This move away from the top-down view, together with the vibrancy of its game world, the interesting low-life characters and star voice acting performances from Debi Mazar and Kyle Maclachlan, made for a critical and commercial smash hit. Once again controversy followed when it was discovered that players could pick up sex workers for a health boost then kill them to get their money back - though, contrary to the outraged reporting of the time, the game never mandated such behaviour. GTA's philosophy is that players should be able to do what they want, even if that thing is toe-curlingly amoral.

Later, two handheld titles would serve as prequels to the game: 2004 saw the release of Grand Theft Auto Advance on the Game Boy Advance, which owed much to the first two GTA titles in its visual style. The following year, Rockstar Leeds released Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories on the Sony PSP, which brought 3D visuals to the handheld spin-offs.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)

Now we get to what some consider the defining game in the series: the tale of gangster-on-the-make Tommy Viccenti, freshly released from prison and looking to rise up the criminal ranks of Vice City, a sleazy metropolis based on Miami. Yes, it's basically Brian de Palma's Scarface mixed with Miami Vice, boasting a similar blend of cool music, hot drugs and rampant violence. The 80s setting, with its accompanying soundtrack of contemporary pop, was a brilliant idea, allowing players to blow up speedboats and crash aeroplanes while listening to Flock of Seagulls. This was also when the controversy really hotted up. The Haitian Centers Council criticised the game's depiction of immigrants, and Rockstar became the subject of two multimillion-dollar lawsuits brought by the families of murder victims in cases in which the game was alleged to have influenced the killers.

A prequel adventure, called Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, arrived on the Sony PSP handheld in 2006, featuring a cameo voice acting performance by Phil Collins.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)

Set in Rockstar's version of California, including its LA-like city Los Santos, this is very much the developer's take on Boyz n the Hood, Menace II Society and the many other similar movies from the late 1990s. Carl "CJ" Johnson is an ex-gang member who returns to the hood for his mother's funeral and slips back into his old ways. The vast map encompasses three cities and varied landscapes, and a wealth of activities from gambling to cycling. It also has one of the best villains in the series: Officer Frank Tenpenny, voiced by Samuel L Jackson.

GTA: San Andreas will also be remembered for the "Hot Coffee" scandal, in which a sex scene originally edited out of the game was found by hackers, still lurking in the code, and made available online. Congress demanded action and Rockstar founders Sam and Dan Houser found themselves in the middle of their own nerve-wracking side quest: being interrogated by the Federal Trade Commission.

Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

Rockstar's dark fable about the immigrant experience follows eastern European former soldier Niko Bellic, who arrives in Liberty City to pursue the American dream - which in his case means organised crime. It was the first GTA to feature the cellphone as a HUD device, allowing Niko to order taxis, call friends and manage his growing riches. The game is famous for its more gritty tone - and for the neediness of Niko's cousin Roman, who always, always wants to go bowling. The game didn't cause as many specific controversies as earlier ones had, although Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) tried to get it reclassified as adults-only in the US due to its depiction of car chases with intoxicated drivers.

The game spawned two follow-up chapters in 2009, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, a sign of Rockstar's growing interest in extending the lifespan of each major GTA release.

Grand Theft Auto V / GTA Online (2013)

Originally released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, GTA V would become a behemoth. Where GTA 4 was a takedown of the American dream, this game took aim at every corrupt and hypocritical aspect of modern America. The game returned us to San Andreas, Rockstar's fictional California, and the city of Los Santos, this time in the company of three protagonists: reluctantly retired middle-aged gangster Michael, hustler Franklin, and hillbilly psycho Trevor. Cleverly, these three characters compartmentalised three aspects of Grand Theft Auto's personality - satirical cinematic ambition, character-led crime drama, and violent mayhem - giving Rockstar an outlet for every kind of GTA mission from trying to assassinate toxic social-media moguls to car chases across the desert.

It had the biggest game world we had yet seen anywhere, rendered in detail from the peaks of the mountains down to Michael's local tennis courts. And that world would become home to tens of millions of players throughout the next decade thanks to GTA Online, the multiplayer mode that Rockstar launched shortly after GTA V's release. Though its early months were a mess - you could tell the developer had never run an online game before, and the servers struggled to cope with demand in the first weeks, randomly deleting players' characters and progress - it has since grown into one of the most profitable online games ever made. It took them years to get there, but Rockstar eventually realised the dream of rampaging in San Andreas with friends, planning heists and accumulating supercars.

Grand Theft Auto 6 (2025)

Bringing Grand Theft Auto V to new consoles, and keeping GTA Online continually updated with new mayhem for players to get up to, evidently kept Rockstar busy, and there will likely be an unprecedented 12-year gap between games. Grand Theft Auto 6 was finally shown off for the first time in a brief trailer in December 2023, around the time of Rockstar Games' 25th anniversary. It will be set back in Vice City and the surrounding, distinctly Floridian state of Leonida, and will feature two partner-in-crime protagonists - one of whom is the series' first female progatonist, an ex-con called Lucia. Whether that will be enough to address long-running criticisms of Grand Theft Auto's treatment of women remains to be seen.

The real America has changed so much since GTA V that it's difficult to see what satirical grenades Rockstar will be able to deploy. In a world in which Donald Trump was president for four years, and that still wasn't enough to put people off voting for him again, what more absurd fictional scenario could a game concoct?

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Grand Theft Auto: every game and controversy explained

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The trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 is everywhere this week, the first game in the smash hit crime series in more than a decade. From its crude beginnings to its multiplayer mayhem, we look back at past releases - and the outrage that greeted them

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The evolution of video games as a storytelling medium, and the role of narrative in modern games

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The evolution of video games as a storytelling medium, and the role of narrative in modern games

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In a paper exploring the field of narrative and its prominence in video games, the logical first step would be to establish a baseline definition of what narrative is. During the past decade or more, many broader interpretations of the word have arisen, stretching the meaning to involve "belief, value, experience, interpretation, or simply content," [1]. For this essay, a much narrower definition is required, since narrative regarding games (and my approach the subject of narrative in this essay) refers to storytelling, and the relation of events and characters. Therefore, an appropriate definition would be H. Porter Abbott's, made in 1978, which is "the representation of an event, or a series of events" [2].

This definition encapsulates the most basic interpretation of the word, and is a nice, simple way to describe narrative when it is referenced or alluded to in this essay. However, I feel that expanding upon this definition before continuing may prove beneficial. In her paper Defining Media from the Perspective of Narratology [1], Marie-Laure Ryan gives three features by which narrative can be explained, which can be summarized as follows: A "Story that takes place in a world populated with individual agents and objects", which "must undergo not fully predictable changes of state", and these physical events "must be associated with mental states and events (goals, plans, emotions)." These three features form a very clear rule by which to define narrative and what counts as a narrative or not.

Since humans have been communicating, they have been using narrative to tell stories, and it is a topic that has been studied since the time of Aristotle, when he laid the foundation for narrative study in Western culture with his book Poetics [3]. Aristotle theorised tragedy (which was in those days a term used to describe a form of theatre in which tragic events were experienced by the main character), and concluded that plot, or "the arrangement of the incidents" [3] was the most important of the six ingredients of a tragedy. The other ingredients, as he described, were Character, Thought, Diction (the way language is used to convey and represent ideas), Song, or Melody, and Spectacle, given in order of importance. Another concept of narrative defined by Aristotle is that any given story must have a beginning, where a problem is encountered, a middle, in which the characters struggle to overcome the problem, and an end in which the problem is resolved.

Aristotle is widely accepted as the biggest influence on the development of literature in the West, and the thoughts we have about the subject today largely come from his ideas. The ingredients of tragedy that he defined can be seen in modern narrative, and in fact they translate to the definition that we put together before. The individual agents and objects refers to character, the change of state is the plot, and the mental states and events are thought. Stemming from Aristotle's work, the field of narratology was formed, a study that was most prominent around 1960, which aimed to identify what narratives have in common. The way we tell stories and the way we interpret events has been changed a lot by this research and the work done in this field, because it translates to the narratives that are presented to us in our daily lives.

In the world today, narrative has become such a core part of how we interpret events around us. We see it in every medium from musicals and poems to television and radio, and now we see it in video games as well. Through this exposure to the media, as Helen Fulton describes, "...our sense of reality is increasingly structured by narrative." [4] We begin to think of everything as a structured story, because we understand that every event that we experience in our lives can be told through a narrative. While the main form of storytelling has always been speech, in the modern age narrative is presented to us most prominently through digital media, especially television and (more recently) video games.

The twentieth century brought about the beginning of the digital age, the age of computers, and television, film and video. Before this, there were significantly less devices through which to tell a story; The main media that conveyed narratives were conversation, books, and plays. But the introduction of film and cinema, which Marie-Laure Ryan describes as the "art of the twentieth century" [5], saw an evolution in how narrative can be told. In her article, Ryan describes how cinema gave new dimensions to novels and theatre. It allows events to be represented as they happen in the present tense, in a similar way to written tales, while also transcending theatre in its visual representation. The ability for film to put its audience in the action through cinematography and music was revolutionary.

Television and the internet make narratives more accessible than ever before, and contributes to the importance that human cognition puts on them. We might see an advert for a cleaning product, where a child spills his or her drink, and a frustrated mother will try in vain to fix the mess with a 'regular' cleaning product, and thus turn to the advertised product. Even this example uses a problem and solution narrative to give authenticity to the product, that resonates with audiences because it is relatable. Modern social apps such as Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram give users the opportunity to experience their friends lives and adventures in the form of 'stories'. Narratives can be experienced now more than ever before, due to the amount of media we consume through the internet and through our devices. Video games are the next step in digital storytelling, ushering in a new concept of interactive narrative.

It is strange, perhaps even incredible to consider how quickly video games have developed from when they began in the 1960's, as we move towards an ever increasingly technologically dependant world. In his book 'The Singularity Is Near' [6], Ray Kurzweil compares it to biological evolution, drawing conclusions that over time, advancements become more rapid, as we use tools from previous generations to progress to the next. This has allowed video games to advance at a very high rate. As we step into the world of video games to discover the evolution and the role of narrative in them, we must take a moment to explore the evolution of video games and look at the history of the medium.

As detailed in The Complete History of Video Games [7], the first interactive video game was created in 1962 by MIT student Steve Russell. It was a space combat game aptly called Spacewar [20], where two player-controlled spaceships fought against each other around the gravity well of a star. This was the most basic of games by today's standards, but it was revolutionary at the time, and paved the way for a lot of development in the field of computer science and programming. Though this game was developed openly by community members over the following years, it wasn't until almost a decade later in 1971, that it became the first arcade machine (released as Computer Space [21] by Nutting Associates). A year later Atari was formed by Nolan Bushnell, who headed the development of Computer Space, and Pong [22] was created by Atari engineer Al Alcorn.

The first home videogame system was the Odyssey, created by Magnavox in 1972, which could be plugged into a television, and came with several games including Tennis [23] and Ski [24]. Three years later, Atari created a Pong unit for home use as well. In 1977, a series of LED-based handheld games were released by Mattel. From this point, the development of the industry speeds up rapidly, with the main companies like Nintendo, Atari, Sega, Namco, and others start developing games and systems at a higher rate. During this time arcades were doing extremely well, with Pacman [25] being released in 1980, which would go on to sell 300,000 units worldwide. 1986 saw the release of the Nintendo NES, the Sega Master System, and the Atari 7800, which were all very successful. During the 90s, PC gaming started to become prominent with games like Doom [26], and new consoles were introduced, including Sony's PlayStation and the Nintendo 64. The late 90s brought a new trend in handheld games with popular titles like Pokémon [27]. From here, the games industry would only become more successful, and would develop into what we see today.

In this section, I will begin to explore the first part of the essay title, which is the evolution of narrative in games. I will begin by looking at the different styles of narrative that are usually found in games, and describing each of them in turn. Then, using specific examples, I will explore two games from the 1980s and 90s, and look at their stories and the way in which they show them. Then using the same method, I will investigate two more modern games from this decade. After these discussions, conclusions should be made by comparison about the evolution of narrative in video games.

Here it may also be necessary to mention that not all games have, or focus on narrative. For example, sandbox games, simulation games, sports games and the like have no need for a story or even context behind them. Minecraft [28], as a specific example, provides no semblance of story, no reason as to why the player is there in the world, nor a plot to guide them through their experience. Instead the player is free to create their own story in the world, relying solely on their own imagination to create some form of plot, rather than any interaction with the game itself. Since the most important element of narrative is missing, it cannot be said that Minecraft has a narrative. These games are not the type this essay will be focusing on. For the rest of the paper, the games we look at will be ones that have an obvious narrative attached to them, or that are completely story-based.

The first thing to note about narrative in games is that there it two parts: the structure, referring to the progression of the story, the different sections and subsections, and how they are connected and interconnected to form a plot, and the portrayal: how the game conveys or shows the story. There are three main types of narrative structures that are usually found in games, the first being linear. This is likely a familiar concept, as it is the structure found in other mediums such as literature and film, since these mediums can almost only use this model. The Google definition of linear is 'progressing from one stage to another in a single series of steps', and this is essentially the case. In a linear narrative, the story progresses from one event to another in a single straight line, with no deviation, backtracking, or skipping ahead. In games, linear narrative offers players no interaction with the story. They are not given choices that affect the story, and cannot alter it through gameplay, therefore being unable to dictate how the story plays out. The game can only be completed one way: the way that was written by the game designers.

The second type of narrative structure is referred to in game design as the string of pearls model. This is where the story is told in a linear fashion, but can be interrupted by player freedom at times. This is a structure unique to video games, as the interactivity required for the player freedom cannot be found in other mediums. This is typically seen in role-playing games, where the main story is linear - made up of separate sequences in the form of missions or quests. The player is given freedom through exploration and side quests that are given throughout the world. The third narrative structure is a fully branching story, where player choice plays a major role in how the plot and characters in the world develop, and how the game ends. This type of narrative has been attempted before video games, in the form of interactive books: this type of novel gives the reader choices at the end of each chapter, each choice sending the reader to a different chapter, giving them a chance to create their own story. This structure is usually used in fully story-based games.

There is a fourth model known as the amusement park model, which is very like the branching narrative except players access story by exploration rather than by completing missions. For example, a story branch will unlock by finding the NPC that triggers it, rather than unlocking it through previously completed content. This is a common structure for open world games. These different structures can be represented well through graphs, using nodes to represent story elements/sequences, and the connecting lines to show gameplay paths. A node with multiple children represents a choice, where each child is an option. Below are the three narrative structures as graphs:

There are also several different ways that narrative can be shown and conveyed to the player in a game. The first is through cutscenes, which is an exposition of the story in the form of a short cinematic. Cutscenes can combine dialogue and action in a way that keeps the player in action, and are used to convey plot development in games the same way film does. Text is a very traditional way to convey plot. A block of text used at each story event is the primary way a lot of older games give context to the player. Dialogue is another way that players can uncover story elements. Talking to NPCs in the game world can uncover plotlines and context for characters and events, as well as giving quests in games that use the amusement park model. The other, and perhaps the most interesting form of storytelling in games is storytelling through the environment and the game world. Letting the player interpret the story through objects, places, and people in the game world allows them to form their own ideas about the plot. This is the rarest form of storytelling in games, however it is prominent and successful in the game Dark Souls [29] and its subsequent titles. Most games use a combination of these narrative techniques to convey story elements to the player.

Nintendo's Donkey Kong [30], is widely considered the first game that had a story that players could see unfold on the screen. It was released in 1981, and directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, who had a very different idea about communicating with the player than the rest of the industry did at that time. According to an article about the history of Donkey Kong, 'Miyamoto wanted to make sure the whole story, simple though it was, could be told on screen in a way that could be instantly grasped by players' [8]. Donkey Kong is a 2D platformer, where the player character (an early rendition of Mario) must track down his pet ape who has escaped with the player's girlfriend. The game uses cutscenes at the beginning of the game showing the ape escaping, and every time the player completes the level, upon which Donkey Kong grabs the girl and climbs to a higher level. Small animations and text serve to convey plot, such as the 'help' speech bubble that represents the damsel calling for aid.

Crash Bandicoot [31], released in 1996 by Sony Computer Entertainment, is a 3D platformer following the story of a marsupial as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend from the clutches of the antagonist Dr Neo Cortex. In this game, as with a lot of old-school titles, the story takes a backseat to the gameplay. It instead focuses on the platforming mechanics and level design, in order to make a fun experience for the user. In fact, there are only two expositions of plot: the opening cutscene, where Crash escapes from the Cortex's castle, and the ending cutscene where Crash saves his girlfriend after the final boss fight with Cortex. The plot simply exists to give context to the player's actions and to give the player a reason to continue playing through the game.

What we can see from these games, is that they both employ a classic damsel and destress story. Both the nameless carpenter and Crash are out to rescue their significant other from the antagonist. In both games, the story also takes a secondary role to the gameplay, existing for the sole reason of giving context to the gameplay. The plot serves as motivation for the player, giving them a goal to achieve that makes them want to progress. They are also both linear stories, and that is an indirect result of the gameplay being linear. In both games, the player completes a series of levels sequentially, with no branching options for gameplay, and in turn, no player choices that lead to branching narrative.

Skyrim [32], Bethesda Softworks' fifth instalment of the Elder Scrolls series, is well known in the gaming community, and was met with critical acclaim upon its release in 2011. It tells the story of the Dragonborn, a human with the blood and soul of a dragon. The player controls this Dragonborn, moving through the world of Skyrim to discover locations, people, quests, and ultimately defeat the evil dragon Alduin. The game employs a combination of the string of pearls and amusement park models. The main questline is linear, with player emergency not affecting the outcome of the story. However, the player can explore the world, and take part in other questlines. In all of these optional questlines, the player must make choices that affects the characters and the following quests they can take in regard to that questline. The open world nature of the game, and its non-linear gameplay allow this narrative structure to work.

Life is Strange [33] is another critically acclaimed title, part of a new trend of episodic games, where content is released periodically in 'chapters'. Developed by Dotnod Entertainment, it completely revolves around player choice by employing a full branching narrative, where the player's decisions affect the outcome of the game and produce different endings. The player watches the action unfold before them from the perspective of the main character Max Caulfield, who discovers her ability to rewind time. The player makes choices through multiple choice actions and dialogue, and all these choices affect characters and events in the future. Unlike any of the previous games mentioned, this one is completely story-based, meaning that the gameplay has taken a backseat to the narrative. This is the type of game that tries to tell a story, where the developers have designed the game to give the player a narrative experience that cannot exist in other mediums such as literature or film.

We can see that these two games are drastically different from the old-school games in the structure of their narrative. These games both use narrative structures that allow player interaction and player choices to have an impact on the outcome of the story. Story in these games is used as a foundation for the game world. It does not feel like a component that is tacked on to the rest of the game, but is instead the backbone of the entire structure of the game.

By comparing the games from 20-30 years ago, to the games from the current decade, we can look to draw conclusions about the evolution of narrative in video games. First, the structure of progression: we see that while both early games used a linear structure, the last two employ more branching narratives. Players are not able to interact with the story in early games; no matter how they play the game it will always be the same, because they are not given choices to make that will impact the flow of the game, or how the story plays out. Modern games encourage player interaction, by giving them choices that have real consequences, and allowing them to make their own story by the decisions they make.

The role of the narrative has also changed. In the early games, the story existed to provide context to the game, to give players a goal to achieve and a reason to play. It was almost tacked on to some games, and it would not have mattered if these stories had been completely different, or there at all from a gameplay perspective. Nowadays, developers make games with a story in mind, and the gameplay and the narrative become of equal importance in the game. In a blog post about the development of narrative, specifically in the developer Naughty Dog's games [9], Chris Bowring writes that "In Uncharted the story was merely there to logically funnel you from one segment of gameplay to the next. However, in The Last of Us, the story and gameplay is one cohesive whole." Bowring also describes how with games like The Last of Us [34], it shows the game industry maturing with its audience. In the early stages of the medium, games were considered toys for children, but now those who played games as a kid are grown up, and the industry is growing with them. The graphic content and the concepts the game explores attest to this.

The fact that games themselves are becoming more advanced and complex, both technologically and gameplay wise, allows game narratives to evolve in the same way. Early games were very restricted by computing power, to small 2D games that could not support the complexity that is needed for such narratives to exist. Modern open world games allow the amusement park model to exist, and the budgets of today's games allow developers to invest in complex and detailed narratives, and worlds and gameplay that fully support this. Another factor is that the amount of indie games being produced has skyrocketed in recent years, giving way to more experimental games that are not afraid to try new storytelling techniques.

What it ultimately comes down to is the concept of embedded narratives vs emergent narratives. Older games typically have embedded narratives, which means "pre-generated narrative content that exists prior to a player's interaction with the game" [10]. They have backstories, and "are often used to provide the fictional background for the game, motivation for actions in the game, and development of story arc." This is what we see in Crash Bandicoot and Donkey Kong, whereas Skyrim and Life is Strange employ emergent narratives, which "arises from the player's interaction with the game world, designed levels, [and] rule structure." "Moment by moment play in the game creates this emergent narrative... depending on [the] user's actions." In conclusion, narrative in video games have evolved over time to become more complex and cohesive with the gameplay, moving from embedded to emergent. We have gone from stories being used to show games, to games being used to tell stories.

This section of the paper aims to investigate the second part of the essay title: the role of narrative in modern games, by building upon what has already been covered in terms of narrative evolution. To begin, we will look at the latest trends in story-based games, and how interactivity impacts storytelling. Interactivity in games will be discussed, particularly how it can elicit emotion from the player and provide new narrative experiences with new structures and ways that it can be delivered to the player. Finally, I will look at the popularity of modern story-based games and the reasons it appeals to people. Using these points, conclusions can be made about the role of narrative in modern games.

Until Dawn [35], developed by Supermassive Games and released in August of 2015 for the PlayStation 4, ushered in a new age of video games. Until Dawn is a survival horror game, following a group of eight teenagers as they spend the weekend in a ski lodge. They are there to party, but soon realize that they are not the only people on the mountain, and are terrorized throughout the game by a group of cannibals possessed by evil spirits. The player interacts with the game mainly through quick time events, and decisions that are made by pressing one button or another. There are moments when they player can take control of the characters, but it mostly results in what is referred to as a 'walking simulator', where the player simply moves the character from one location to the next. The main mechanic in this game is the use of the 'butterfly effect', the notion that even the smallest of choices can have massive impacts on future events. Like Life is Strange, this results in is what can only be described as an interactive movie.

In fact, Until Dawn was a collaboration between Hollywood and the game industry. The two lead writers, Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick are both well-established figures in the realm of film, having each written multiple Hollywood films. The script spanned more than 10,000 pages, having to account for all narrative branches, all eight characters and the choices that the player makes. Reznick says that "what's exciting about games, and specifically narrative-based games, is that you can take that approach from filmmaking, the curated narrative, and then explode it out so that the designers and writers of the game are curating a narrative environment for the player, but the player becomes a complicit collaborator" [11]. From this quote by the writer, we can see that he recognizes that Until Dawn is essentially an interactive movie, approached the same way as a film, the difference being that games allow every possibility of that story to be put into the final product.

Telltale Games have taken this concept, and built a franchise upon it. Founded from the remnants of LucasArts, the studio began to develop entirely story-based games, but they developed games in the same way that television does due to the nature of their games. Thus, Telltale created a new format of games. Episodic releases have been embraced by more and more games since the inception of it, such as Hitman [36] and as mentioned before, Life is Strange. These new trends in narrative games mark a branch from gaming; whether they can still be considered video games is a debate that has been raging online for the past several years. This is an important discussion, but not one that this essay will go into detail about. For this sake of this paper, Telltale Games products will be recognized as video games. Despite this, there is no denying that they are a different breed of game entirely. Interactive games have proven extremely popular, as will be discussed further on, and contribute to pushing storytelling in games and storytelling in general further.

In order to play a game, the player must interact with it, through a human device interface (HID), typically a controller or a mouse and keyboard. Gameplay can only work through player interaction, based on a set of rules provided by the game. However, interactivity impacts not just gameplay, but how the game narrative works and how it tells its story. Craig Lindley explains that "one must learn and then perform a gameplay gestalt in order to progress through the events of the game. To experience the game as a narrative also requires the creation of a narrative gestalt unifying the game experiences into a coherent narrative structure" [12]. From this we can see that for a narrative to exist in a game, there must be a way for the player to interact with it. So the question becomes, how does interactivity impact storytelling in video games?

An obvious answer, one repeated time and time again, is that by interacting with the characters in the game, the player becomes part of the narrative. In games, players control the pacing of the gameplay, and the movements and actions of the main character, effectively becoming a co-author of the story. The interactivity allows stories to be told from the perspective of the player, rather than that of the main character. An experiment conducted by the Department of Journalism and Communication Research at Hanover University sought to understand players' identification with video game characters [13]. They got half of their participants to play a game for a period of time, while the other half watched. What they found from participant questionnaires is that "people playing the game and thus having the possibility to act efficiently within the character role identify with the game protagonist to a much larger extent than people do who could not interact with the game." On top of this, the researchers concluded that "the interactive use of the combat game 'Battlefield 2' thus allowed for more intense, 'authentic' vicarious or simulated experiences of 'being' a soldier in a modern combat scenario".

From this research, we can see that games allow players to identify more with the player character because of the interaction with the game. While in movies you can only watch the characters move around the world, games give the player agency, the ability to pilot these characters themselves. In the beginning of The Last of Us, the player takes the role of a young girl at the start of the zombie outbreak. After about 10 minutes of gameplay, the girl is killed. This is shown in a cinematic cut scene, so it is delivered in the same way as a movie, eliciting the same emotions as the scene would in a film. However, by having played as the girl prior to this, they are able to identify more with her and relate to her, making it harder to see her die. By interacting with the game and taking the role of a character the player becomes attached to that role, and so games can, in some ways, more emotion than other mediums.

The fact that games are inherently an interactive medium opens up a world of possibilities for narrative, and supports a plethora of new storytelling structures and ways in which they are conveyed. A game that must be mentioned, as a specific case study, is Bloodborne [37], From Software's PlayStation 4 exclusive, released in 2015. In the same realm as Dark Souls, this game uses environmental storytelling, a method exclusive to video games and interactive environments. In the game the player is a hunter, tasked with clearing the city of Yharnam of its people who have turned into beasts. What starts as a gothic horror quickly turns into a cosmic horror, as concepts akin to H.P. Lovecraft's work arise concerning celestial beings called great ones, and nightmare planes of existence.

On the surface level, and what a player may notice on their first play through of the game, is that there does not appear to be a clear story. There are vague cut scenes that offer unclear exposition, which by themselves make no sense to the player. Players are given clues about where to go in the world to progress, but no clear reason why. There are three endings to the game, one which allows you to allows you to be executed by your mentor, after which you wake up in the city in the morning. Another ending allows you to fight your mentor and take his place, and the third ending sees the player become a great one themselves by defeating the celestial entity called the Moon Presence. At first glance, there is no clear meaning for each of these endings, as there doesn't seem to be context behind any of them.

But this is the intention, and indeed the beauty of the storytelling used in this game. There is a story to the world of Bloodborne, a complex narrative that involves history and backstory, branching questlines with player choices that impact the outcome, deep lore concerning the characters and locations in the world. There is a reason for everything in Bloodborne, but the player has to find it themselves. The game does not walk the player through the story in the way other games do. No piece of dialogue or cut scene will ever show the whole story, or explain exactly the situation. But these cut scenes and dialogue, along with items found throughout the game world, are clues, small pieces of a puzzle that must be discovered and put together to reveal the whole picture. There are hundreds of items in the game, ranging from weapons and armour to spells and potions. Each item has a unique description, which serves to uncover a part of the lore. Everything in the world is put there for a reason. A seemingly random item found on a dead body can reveal a clue. Only by interacting with the environment, the characters, and the items in the world, can the player seek to understand the story of Bloodborne.

This form of storytelling is something that cannot be found in another medium. Bloodborne puts an emphasis on the gameplay by not forcing the narrative on players, allowing them to skip the story completely if they so choose. But if looked into closely enough, it can be seen that everything about the gameplay and the game world is there to support a convoluted narrative whose complexity rivals those of modern story-based games. It merges ludology with narratology in way that is seldom seen in other games. The fact that the player has a choice in experiencing the story or not, that if they want to know about the world and events and the context of the game they have to interact with the world and interpret those clues for themselves speaks volumes about the storytelling capability of video games. The game makes players feel smart if they manage to uncover the plot, and rewards them for their dedication to, and interaction with the story by providing them knowledge of the game and context for their actions. By looking at Bloodborne we can see that games can tell stories in different ways, made possible by the inherent interactivity that is required to play.

From the previous section, we see that interactivity can provide new narrative experiences within gameplay. Modern games keep pushing strong stories that have real messages to show and a reason to show it. We could ask the question, then, have games become a better storytelling medium than film, television and books. But how would that question be answered? How would one compare one medium to another, or quantify each medium based on its ability to tell a story? Each, of course, have their own strengths and weaknesses, but discussing other mediums is not relevant to this paper. Instead, it may be better to ask why some people choose to play story-based games in order to experience narrative. What about the medium appeals to those hungry for story?

It has to be said that story-based games are a relatively new concept in games, and though they are clearly on the rise, at the moment are far from being the most popular type of game. In a breakdown of 2016 video game sales in the US by Statista [14], story-based or anything similar was not recognized as a top-8 genre, instead being classed under 'other'. Despite this, these types of games have some of the highest user ratings on Steam, with Undertale [38], Life is Strange, and The Walking Dead [39] all scoring above a 95% positive rating, and all ranking within the top 50 for positive reviews on Steam [15]. So while not extremely popular at the moment, they do have an overwhelmingly positive reception by players.

As the investigations in the previous section prove, games are able to give players narrative experiences seldom found in other mediums. A reason that players may choose to play story-based games is because they want to try other narrative forms, such as a branching structure where their choices can make an impact on the game, and where they feel like they can dictate the story. Perhaps people feel like they cannot relate to the stories from other mediums as well as they can with games. They may be too impatient to read books, or sit through a two-hour movie. It may also be to do with the type of stories being told in games, which are generally aimed at a younger generation. People of this generation may feel that the stories being told are more relatable for them.

A paper from the University of Amsterdam [16] detailing the appeal of interactive storytelling suggests that games takes concepts from other mediums and enhances the user's experience of them. One such concept is curiosity. "When curiosity occurs, users first perceive a state of uncertainty, which comes along with increased physiological activation." In games, the user does not just think about what will happen next, but "What will happen if I decide this way?" When playing games, "users may combine different mechanisms of curiosity, which should result in a high frequency and intensity of curiosity-based affective dynamics". What this says, is that when playing games, there are more ways for players to experience curiosity. Other concepts that the paper discusses in much the same way are suspense, aesthetics, self-enhancement (or a sense of achievement for completing the game or solving the story), and task engagement, otherwise known as flow. This links back to games enhancing the emotion of players due to interaction. Overall, the interaction that players have with the game and its narrative is why people may prefer this medium over others.

To conclude this chapter, we look at the overall picture, and look briefly to answer the topic question: what is the role of narrative in modern story-based games? Perhaps the answer is as simple as 'to tell stories'. Is this not the reason narratives exist in the first place: to communicate events and characters? But narrative is different in video games than it is in other mediums. If books, movies, television, and music seek to tell the stories of the artists behind them, then modern games tell the user's story. They give the player choices, and a populated environment in which these choices make a difference, and give them control of where those choices take them. Games are being developed to tell stories, and to make the player feel emotions, and think about real-world issues, and so this is the role that narratives take in video games.

Throughout this paper, games narrative has been discussed thoroughly. We have looked at storytelling in early games, and in modern games, and now, we look forward. To think about the future of story-based games is an interesting topic. It is the same as looking at the future of any form of technology, in the sense that we can never really predict what may happen. The future may hold ideas and concepts that nobody has though of at this time, that may seem impossible now. Who, hundreds of years ago, could fathom the internet? We can speculate though, and we can make educated guesses into what the near future may hold for game narrative. The people most educated on the matter are the game writers themselves. Those who have been in the industry for a long time, seen the developments of the medium, and contributed their own work to the industry. B looking at current trends and asking the professionals, we can seek to answer the question of what the future may hold.

Phil Spencer is the head of Xbox at Microsoft, and in an interview with The Guardian [14] he explained the current situation and the future of the Xbox, particularly about what they could offer that would attract more people to the Xbox brand. Among other things, he talked about subscription games, referencing Telltale Games and their brand of episodic games. He also mentioned how the subscription model of television promotes storytelling. "[Subscription services] might spur new story-based games coming to market because there's a new business model to help support their monetization." Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime allow so much content to be produced and consumed, and offers a platform on which users can access all this content by paying a subscription. Applying the same structure to a game streaming service would allow the same to happen with storytelling in games. More content could be produced and consumed, allowing more stories to be told and experienced very easily. A new business model such as this might improve the future of narrative for games.

At a fan event in San Francisco in 2015, Some of the biggest and well-distinguished video game writers were interviewed about narrative in games, and in particular, what they think the future of video game narratives may entail. When asked where games and storytelling are going, Jenova Chen, creative director at Thatgamecompany, talked about story streaming. "Maybe in future games, everybody will have different versions of a story, and someone will have a really amazing version that we'll all want to watch. That might come from dreams" [15]. This is an interesting concept, exploring the move from current branching narratives where players go from one pre-written chunk of story to the next, to narratives where players create even their own chunks, with no need for written scripts. Perhaps procedurally generated narratives could be the future of storytelling.

Chen also mentions even more interactivity between player and game. "Video games [are] still in the era of silent film. The equivalent of sound and words is the ability of AI to understand what we're saying. Imagine you're playing a game and not just pressing buttons, but actually talking to the game." He went on to describe how much more emotional the interaction could be in a video game if you were able to make conversation yourself. From this we can gather that narrative-based games will almost definitely move towards a place where the player can truly interact with the game, rather than using a designed interface to communicate with the world and its characters. It is interesting to think about talking to an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system inside of a game. If, in Life is Strange, instead of controlling Max and making decisions based on multiple choice, you as the player are Max, and you can make any decision you wanted when faced with a choice. The future of story games will seek to be more interactive, and look to break down the biggest barriers between the player and the game: the screen, and interface.

On the topic of breaking down the screen and the interface, the future of narrative in games will certainly involve Virtual Reality (VR). VR, to give a simple definition, is a simulation of events that users can experience as if they were in the fictional world themselves, through headsets with two screens (one for each eye) and a stereo for sound. It is a very new medium, and is, like games were in the early stages, very restricted by technology. If a game or simulation in VR does not run at a certain frame rate, users can experience severe nausea, and most home computers do not have the processing power to support big, complex games in VR. This means that at the moment, VR games are restricted in terms of graphics and complexity. The large sum of money required to purchase an Oculus Rift or an HTC Vive means that it is not yet viable as a product for the general consumer. However, the medium open up a lot of possibilities for education, medicine, and of course, storytelling.

In an attempt to research storytelling in VR, Disney Imagineering developed a high-fidelity virtual reality attraction based on the film Aladdin, where guests are able to pilot a flying carpet through a virtual environment. Their findings are detailed in a paper [16] that I will presently discuss. Through their efforts to create a simulation that could tell a story, the team found that VR was a much different medium, and there were a lot of challenges when designing the narrative experience. The fact that the camera is fully controlled by the player means that scenes have to be designed around this. Pacing a story can be difficult, because, like in video games, the player controls the pace of the gameplay. Sound is also tricky because it is typically used to carry emotional tone for a scene, however the developers no longer control the timing. Despite these difficulties though, they managed to produce an experience that captured the imaginations of those who tested it. They concluded the research with a few main points, two of which were that "the illusion is compelling enough that most guests accept being in a synthetically generated environment and focus on the environment, not the technology." And that "VR appeals to everyone. Both genders and all ages had similar responses to [the] attraction."

What we can learn from this experiment with VR, is that there is no doubt that it will become a standard medium of storytelling in the future. It has the ability to transport the player into another realm of existence entirely; a world to themselves, the ultimate form of escapism. This is the first step towards the future that Jenova Chen describes, and as VR keeps developing and improves as technology evolves it will become increasingly immersive for players. It will allow them to tell their own stories and take control of the narrative. This is certainly the future of storytelling in games.

In this paper, we have sought to understand the evolution of games as a storytelling medium, as well as the role of narrative in modern games, and how it may change in the future. By looking at the narrative structures of old-school games from 20-30 years ago, and comparing them to the narratives of modern games, it can be recognized that games have gone from using a linear structure with embedded narrative, to branching structures with emergent narratives. Games now allow players to take control of the narrative, by giving them choices with meaningful consequences that affect the outcome of the story. Storytelling has matured, going from meaningless damsel in distress cases that serve to motivate the player, to being at the forefront of the game with real messages and important stories to tell.

We see modern trends in story-based games, where gameplay takes a backseat to branching narratives, as in Telltale games and Until Dawn. We find that interactivity enhances the ability for games to tell stories. From research about player character identification it can be seen how even in a linear narrative such as in The Last of Us, interaction with the game and character can elicit more emotions than other mediums, leaving a bigger impact on the player. And the cast study of Bloodborne shows the potential games have for different kinds of storytelling, and how they can be effective and rewarding for the audience. For these reasons, we see an increase in storytelling games, and that these games are being met with critical success. Being able to interact with a game is a strong argument for video games being a viable storytelling medium.

We have also looked in to the future of storytelling in games. We see that story-based games may become even more popular, as new business models provide platforms for content similar to TV streaming websites like Netflix. With VR, and a host of other experimental technologies on the rise, narratives in games are looking to become more immersive and interactive, giving the player full control by putting them into the game.

Could Aristotle, when creating the rules of narrative, have ever envisioned what would become of his work. That his theories and his work would be the foundation of mediums of storytelling that would not exist for thousands of years. Video games as a medium for storytelling have evolved so significantly in the last 30 years, that even those who incepted video games could not possibly have known how far we have come. And we, educated as we are in the field, cannot possibly imagine how far we have to go.

[1] M. Ryan, "Defining Media from the Perspective of Narratology".

[2] H. Porter Abbott, The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative, 1st ed. Cambridge University Press, 2008.

[3] Aristotle (350 B.C.E) Poetics [Online]. Available: http://classics.mit.edu//Aristotle/poetics.html [March 29, 2017]

[4] H. Fulton, R. Huisman, J. Murphet and A. Dunn, Narrative and Media, 1st ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

[5] M. Ryan, "Beyond Myth and Metaphor", Game Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2001.

[6] R. Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near, 1st ed. Penguin Books, 2006.

[7] S. Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games, 1st ed. Roseville: Three Rivers Press, 2001.

[8] T. Fahs, "The Secret History of Donkey Kong", Gamasutra, 2017.

[9] C. Bowring, "How Narrative Has Evolved in Video Games - A History of Naughty Dog", WordPress, 2017..

[10] "Narrative in Games", University of Amsterdam, 2010. Available: http://www.few.vu.nl/~vbr240/onderwijs/pim/Narrative%20in%20Games.pdf

[11] Graham Reznick, August 25, 2015. Available: https://venturebeat.com/2015/08/25/in-sonys-until-dawn-interactive-horror-game-the-players-become-part-of-the-narrative/view-all/

[12] C. Lindley, "The Gameplay Gestalt, Narrative, and Interactive Storytelling", 2002.

[13] Department of Journalism and Communication Research, "Identification with the Player Character as Determinant of Video Game Enjoyment", Hanover, 2007.

[14] "U.S. most popular video game genres 2016 | Statista", Statista, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/189592/breakdown-of-us-video-game-sales-2009-by-genre/. [Accessed: 16- Jun- 2017].

[15] "Game Ratings", Steam Database, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://steamdb.info/stats/gameratings/. [Accessed: 16- Jun- 2017].

[16] C. Roth, P. Vorderer and C. Kimmt, "The Motivational Appeal of Interactive Storytelling", 2009.

[17] P. Spencer, April 28, 2017. Available: https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/28/xbox-one-phil-spencer-subscription-gaming/.

[18] J. Chen, San Francisco, December 5, 2015. Available: https://venturebeat.com/2015/ 12/23/the-masters- of-storytelling-predict-the -future-of-narrative-gaming/view-all/.

[19] Disney Imagineering, "Disney's Aladdin: First Steps Toward Storytelling in Virtual Reality", Virginia, 2017.

[20] Spacewar. [PDP-1]. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1962.

[21] Computer Space. [Arcade]. Nutting Associates, 1971.

[22] Pong. [Arcade]. Atari, 1972.

[23] Tennis. [Odyssey]. Magnavox, 1972.

[24] Ski. [Odyssey]. Magnavox, 1972.

[25] PacMan. [Arcade]. Namco, Atari, 1980.

[26] Doom. [MS-DOS]. GT Interactive, 1993.

[27] Pokémon. [Game Boy]. Nintendo, 1996.

[28] Minecraft. [Windows]. Mojang, 2009.

[29] Dark Souls. [PlayStation 3, Xbox 360]. Bandai Namco Entertainment, 2011.

[30] Donkey Kong. [Arcade]. Nintendo, 1981.

[31] Crash Bandicoot. [PlayStation]. Sony Interactive Entertainment, 1996.

[32] The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. [Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360]. Bethesda Softworks, 2011.

[33] Life is Strange. [Windows]. Square Enix, 2015.

[34] The Last of Us. [PlayStation 3]. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2013.

[35] Until Dawn. [PlayStation 4]. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2015.

[36] Hitman. [Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360]. Square Enix, 2016.

[37] Bloodborne. [PlayStation 4]. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2015.

[38] Undertale. [Windows]. Toby Fox, 2015.

[39] The Walking Dead. [Windows]. Telltale Games, 2012.

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The evolution of video games as a storytelling medium, and the role of

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In a paper exploring the field of narrative and its prominence in video games, the logical first step would be to establish a baseline definition of what narrative is. During the past decade or more, many broader interpretations of the word have arisen, stretching the meaning to involve "belief, value, experience, interpretation, or simply content," [1].

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[In an in-depth design article originally published in Game Developer magazine, Street Fighter II HD Remix designer Sirlin discusses who's done things right -- and wrong -- when creating save systems for video games.]

I once heard Peter Molyneux say that during the development of he didn't want the player to be able to pause the game. His reasoning was that is a world that goes on with or without the player. Luckily, his friends talked him out of it, pointing out that sometimes the doorbell rings, the phone rings, or the baby cries.

Games are not for game designers and their ivory-tower ideals-games are for players. Players have lives outside of our games and we should respect those lives and design our games accordingly, rather than expect our players to design their lives around us.

Players should be able to save anytime they want, or more precisely, they should be able to stop playing your game anytime without losing their meaningful progress.

This is an old argument where one side talks about the convenience of saving anytime and the other talks about the need to make games challenging, but this is a false dichotomy. We can allow the player to stop playing without excessive penalty and make a challenging game. It's just a matter of defining what "saving" actually means.

As an example, doesn't literally allow the player to save anywhere they want, but it still meets this requirement in spirit. The point of the game is to collect all 120 stars, and every time you collect a star, you "save and continue." You cannot save your exact position in a level, but such a feature isn't needed anyway.

The geography of the game is designed such that a player can reach the entrance to any level in just a few seconds by navigating Mario's castle and getting back to any specific goal in a level doesn't take long either.

This preserves the game's difficulty (players can't save and load to get the stars more easily) and it also means the player can turn the game off at any time, knowing that the only important progress (collecting stars) has been saved.

and and Resident Evil 4 all use the same save system, which is also common in many other games. They all have save points and check points. Save points let players save their progress and load it later. Check points are sprinkled invisibly between save points and if they die, they go back to the last checkpoint rather than all the way back to the last save point.

This system isn't too bad, but it doesn't do a good job of letting the player save and quit at any time, either. It would make more sense if the player could pause the game at any time and save progress up to the last checkpoint.

I'm not suggesting that the player should be able to take a step, save, fire a shot, save-just that he or she should be able to stop playing the game and resume from the last checkpoint. After all, that would happen anyway through dying.

Why separate save points from check points in the first place? I think the answer is for technical reasons rather than design reasons. was designed for the PlayStation 2 and Resident Evil 4 originally appeared on the GameCube (and later on PlayStation 2 and Wii).

These consoles take a few seconds to write a save to the memory card, so doing this every time the designers wanted a checkpoint would probably have been too annoying to the player. This lead to spread out save points and the addition of check points for convenience's sake. In the future, we won't have these technical restrictions.

Gears of War was designed for the Xbox 360, a system capable of writing a save file quickly. Gears of War 's save system is a definite improvement over 's and Resident Evil 's: The player can play through the entire game without having worry about finding save points, but can also quit playing at any time and automatically start at the most recent checkpoint.

Gears of War does this by having many checkpoints, all of which automatically save progress without any action required from the player.

One hitch is that when the friend leaves, the player must briefly quit the game then restart it from the same checkpoint. On this matter, Lego Star Wars has Gears of War beat because it allows a friend to seamlessly join or leave a game without ever quitting out to a menu screen.

This would be highly annoying, so it should only be used as a hardcore leaderboard mode inside a game that also offers a more forgiving system.

In massively multiplayer online games things get even trickier still. On the plus side, players can log out at almost any moment they want in these games, and their character's progress (such as items or experience points) will be saved.

What's much harder to save is progress on a quest or in a dungeon. If a group of four friends is halfway through a three-hour dungeon, one could log out, but it's socially unacceptable, and that player won't be able to continue their progress in that dungeon later.

This is a worse problem during raids, where 25 people must coordinate their real-life schedules, and the ability to log off at any time is basically gone.

Blizzard has taken some steps to simulate the kind of save points seen in offline games, though. The Scarlet Monastery dungeon starts in an ante-room with four separate portals leading to four different wings. This allows players to play just one fourth of the total experience, stop, and come back later.

Players welcomed these changes as they make the game much more convenient, though they still fall somewhat short. A single player game with save points more than an hour apart would be considered lacking, but at least Blizzard is moving in the right direction here. There is opportunity in the MMO genre to be even more friendly to players' real life schedules.

Let's return to single player games and look at two unusual examples: Dead Rising (Xbox 360) and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Nintendo DS). Dead Rising has save points, but no check points.

The open-ended nature of the game makes it very easy to forget to save at all, especially considering that the save points are off the beaten path inside the various bathrooms of the shopping mall where the game takes place.

Yes, you read that right. If a player wants to keep their character's progress since the last save (such as experience points gained and moves learned) then they must restart the entire game from the opening cut-scene.

Even stranger, Dead Rising only allows a single save slot per Xbox 360 profile, per storage device. That means the game is trying its hardest to restrict people into playing the game only the way the designer wants, while still remaining easily defeatable if one makes a new profile or uses another memory card. By "defeatable," I mean this grants users the ability to create two save files, a feature common to almost all games.

The reasoning behind these decisions in Dead Rising was probably to create a very specific experience for the player. They are supposed to care about finding those save points, and care that they are in constant danger from zombies and that if they die, the last save point was a really long time ago so it's going to be a big deal. The world is against the player-as it almost always is in the horror genre-and so the game's difficulty is intentionally very hard.

If the player keeps playing through the game and dying and starting over, they'll start each time with a stronger character and with more knowledge of how to navigate the game correctly and save the various victims from the zombies.

Incidentally, this same save system was used in the game Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter , which was also by Capcom and is rumored to share some team members with Dead Rising .

I understand why a designer might create a save system like this that reinforces the concepts of the horror genre, but games are not meant to satisfy game designer ideals, they are for players. I was personally annoyed by this system to the point of quitting, because I could not play it the way I wanted.

Dead Rising is an amazing technological showcase and combines the design concepts of a sandbox game (go wherever you want, do whatever you want) with the horror theme of a mall overrun by zombies.

And yet, I'm not allowed even two save slots, I'm bullied into playing the same parts over and over because I feel obligated to restart all the time, and the save points require me to actively seek them out, which means it's very easy to play for an hour or so and forget to save, then die.

That type of save system may work for hardcore players (who border on sadomasochism anyway), but the fictional Little Jimmy from Idaho (the person I often design for) is just going to quit playing out of frustration. I know I did.

On the other hand, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow has an unusual save feature that is intended specifically for the player's convenience, rather than for the designer's vision. This game has standard fixed-location save points (with no check points) and it also has a second method of saving called a save marker.

Players can pause the game at any time and create a save marker, and then the game quits to the title screen. When they want to play again, they can either load a game that was saved at a save point or they can resume from their last save marker.

The tricky part is that if they resume play through either method, then the save marker is destroyed. That means if the player is in the middle of a boss fight, they can save, stop playing, play something else, then later resume from the exact moment they saved.

But players cannot reduce the game's difficulty with this feature because it does not give them a second chance of any kind. This is another example where the game can remain very challenging, and yet still allow the player to save and quit at any time.

Instead, the player must beat either the castle at the end of a world or the tower halfway through the world in order to save. For example, in World 2 this means beating a minimum of five levels before reaching a save point.

Players can also spend their hard-earned star coins to buy a powerup from various mushroom houses which also lets them save, but they very well might not want to spend their coins.

The need to keep the player at arm's length from the ability to save is conspicuous here given the traditions of the genre ( did much better) and doubly-so considering this is a handheld game.

I'm not sure which game designer sensibility this restriction on saving serves, or why it would ever be more important than allowing my girlfriend to play with her virtual dog.

really stands alone here. The most incredible part is that when you beat the game, you unlock the ability to save anytime you want on the map screen!

This proves that no technical limitation made the save system the way it was.

The convenience of saving anytime was deliberately withheld from the player, and given as a reward at the end.

As designers, we can't do this, and must instead put the real lives of our players ahead of our game designery ideals.

A save system should allow the player to stop playing at any time, allow the player to pick up where he or she left off with as close to zero replaying as possible, and save as automatically and seamlessly as possible, so the player will not forget to do it.

Saving should be treated as one of the player's natural rights, not an earned privilege or a game mechanic around which to make strategic decisions.

The design space we have to create new games is so unthinkably large that we lose virtually nothing by restricting ourselves to designs with friendly save game systems that don't presume to override the real-life needs of players.

As I have shown, this does not even require a tradeoff with game difficulty; even difficult games can have convenient save systems.

We should always try to design a save system that simply serves its purpose and fades into the background, otherwise we might end up like New Super Mario Bros. -a game with sales of over 10 million units worldwide, and with ten million girlfriends unable to play Nintendogs .

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In an in-depth design analysis, Street Fighter II HD Remix designer Sirlin discusses who's done things right -- and wrong -- when creating save systems for video games.

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The Ethics of Computer Games - Miguel Sicart

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The Ethics of Computer Games - Miguel Sicart

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Playing video games is the best hobby there is. Sure, that's my opinion, but I'm certainly not alone. Video games have grown from humble beginnings to become the most profitable of all entertainment ventures. That's not bad for something that used to be considered a kid's toy or a novelty demo. But why do so many of us play them? What is it about video games that makes me believe that playing them is the best hobby of all?

The most obvious thing that separates video games from all other forms of entertainment is that video games are interactive. They absorb you into their worlds, and make you think and care about their characters and stories in a way that goes beyond anything that other hobbies can do. We see the graphics, hear the music and sound effects, and marvel at the voice acting, level design, and little details that bring each setting to life. Then we pick up our controllers and play, engaging with them with a tangibility that cements us in our seats.

Most of these details were lacking at the inception of games. The graphics were more like a geometry lesson for children, the sound effects consisted of R2-D2 voice recordings, and the fact that it functioned was the biggest little detail the game could boast. Yet, we played them. The interactivity gave us control, and we let our imaginations fill in the many blanks that were present with each experience. It wasn't a polished story in those early games that kept us playing for hours, either. After all, we were the authors of our adventures in the game. It was fun to move those objects around the screen, doing our bidding, and there had never been anything quite like it before.

Of course, games had to progress in order for them to become the phenomenon they are today. Although there were several factors leading to the video game crash of 1983, one of them was certainly a stagnant progression in the game design. Graphics were getting slightly better, yet the games played just like the novelties we were told they were. Game developers needed to inject some wizardry into their projects, and they did that beyond expectations. Instead of geometric sprites, we were playing as genuine characters that had real goals outside of the high score board. We engaged with stories that put less stress on our imaginations, giving us enough rope to comfortably descend into their maddening tales. Game developers introduced evolving genres, technology, graphics, sound, and level design, and we excitedly hopped aboard for the ride. In doing so, we began to examine what games really meant to each of us.

As we look back at how far gaming has come, we find the parallel in our own lives. Each of us came from humble beginnings, regardless of wealth, status, or any other factor. We needed to learn to speak, walk, and function, very much in step with the genesis of gaming. For those of us that are "seasoned" enough, this parallel is almost exacting. We grew up, and so did games. Examining this history of video games and its impact on our subconcious is important and interesting since video games are akin to a friend growing up alongside each of us, regardless of age, as they continue to evolve and flourish. This subconcious presence is a catalyst that keeps us interested in video games on a general level, but what keeps us coming back to play them with so many other options for entertainment vying for our attention?

There are a number of answers that are specific to each of us, but there are some surefire reasons that each of us play video games. The combination of these factors can amount to some interesting kaleidoscopes for us, but each reason is significant in its own right. We play games to get away from things. We play them to join up with friends and engage socially together. We play them to relieve stress. We play them for the sense of accomplishment they instill in us. We play them for the competition, perhaps earning a living in the process. We play them to be engrossed in their stories and entranced by their worlds. Most importantly of all, however, we play them for the fun they bring us, which correlates with all other factors.

Being a fun and interactive form of entertainment, we often get lost in video games to escape the complexities of everyday life. Life is tough, and while games can be challenging, they are always on our terms. We are in control, amidst a world that often is not. We get to save the day. We get to ruin the day. We get to name a chicken and put a hat on its head, just because we can. The worlds in video games exist on the foundation of a set of rules that is unwavering. Even if the worlds switch, contort, and twist into something else, they are still guided by a rule set that we understand, and escaping into them helps us bring some virtual sanity into our otherwise twisted and contorted day. At some point we must embrace the real world again, of course, but it helps to know that we can escape back into our video gaming worlds if our next day demolishes us again, or even if it doesn't.

While getting away from it all is something each of us needs from time to time, it can get lonely saving the world by ourselves. As such, we have each other for company in games. Video games started as a multiplayer experience. Tennis for Two, Spacewar!, and Pong all brought players together for a battle between themselves. Most of the earliest games on offer, like Combat, Outlaw, and Armor Ambush found gamers taking it inside with each other. Soon after, cooperative games like Gauntlet, Ikari Warriors, and Xenophobe teamed us up against the odds and forced us to play nicely with each other. Video games slowly became the new king of social entertainment, supplanting all others such as poker nights and board games. There are so many worlds to save, or conquer, and the integration of the internet in video games ensures that a social engagement can always be found from the comfort of our homes.

Of course, we don't always want to play with others, nor do we need to dive into virtual worlds to escape reality for a spell. Sometimes, we just want to brutally eliminate every moving pixel in the room, and with video games, we need not accept another substitute. When the stresses of life are weighing us down, we can turn to video games to release them all there. Video game designers know these benefits full well, and we have no shortage of terrible and horrible virtual baddies to rain our righteous thunder down upon. We don't go to these games to immerse ourselves into their splendor. No, we go to these games to lay waste to every single thing that stands in our way, including our stresses. After such a session, we begin to resemble gentle, loving people again. Sometimes.

In the process of our feral abolishment of all those unfortunate enough to cross our paths, we find ourselves accomplishing something. It is not impactful on the actual world, but it is meaningful to us. Video games can absorb us in, and our virtual accomplishments there feel tangible and worthwhile to us. Naysayers can declare such achievements a waste of time, but much like a good book, show, or song, pieces of the entertainment remain with us and get us thinking about much larger aspects of life. In this way, video games can be a catalyst to much greater things, and a better world, if we guard the good that we discover and discard the bad. Video games often mimic reality, even when they are at their most fantastical. Accomplishments and successes in them often teach us valuable lessons that we might otherwise have never considered. Even so, the progressions, loot, and ultimate success found in completing a game give us a high that cannot be duplicated elsewhere, and has us coming back for more.

As our quest for accomplishments unfolds in video games, so does our skill. The more we play games, the better we get at them. Since so many of us are playing the games, it is fun and rewarding to watch others play them with an incredible amount of acquired skill. We understand the rules of our favorite games, and we love to compete in them. Inevitably, video game leagues formed, and companies found ways to profit off of our displays of skill. Video game players began to "go pro", playing our beloved hobby for a paycheck and a living. The novices watch the pros with anticipation, studying their play to mimic their tactics. Not many of us choose to, or are good enough, to play games as part of a professional league of play, but even watching, writing, and talking about such competition engages us with a form of entertainment that we can understand on an intimate level. These are the very games that we play ourselves, after all, and watching the very best play them incentivizes us to play them ever more.

After watching the stories unfold throughout the myriad gaming competitions, we might settle down for a more nuanced and structured story. Though video games lacked the ability to tell incredible stories when they were first created, it wasn't long before we saw some semblance of storytelling breaking through as its own genre. Text-based adventures injected a level of interactivity that was once reserved for "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. While those found some success, games quickly added graphics and gameplay to them, and we were soon playing books in video game form. Most games featured a story of some sort as a means of equating the action with some sort of relevance, but it was the Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) that really showcased a video game's ability to tell a fine story. As technology bettered, we found ourselves engrossed in masterpieces of story telling, like The Last of Us, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Divinity: Original Sin 2. Much like a great novel, we can understand and relate with the characters, and we play these games as much for the story, if not more so, than the game play itself.

Of course, it is the game play that ties it all together. Without game play, there is no game. While interactive novels, such as the early text-based adventures, can be excellent, are they really video games? That's a topic certainly worthy of debate, but not necessary for the understanding of the main reason we love to play games. Video games are fun. That's the secret recipe. If anyone should doubt this, just look at the negative points for any poorly-reviewed game. Whether critics point to unresponsive controls, terrible level design, or disjointed game play, they are all pointing to the game's fun factor. A game can survive, and even thrive, with some wonky sound design or an uninteresting story. In games like Path of Exile, Rocket League, or even Mega Man, do we care what the story is? I couldn't care less about the story in Monster Hunter: World, Forza Horizon 4, or Diablo III, yet they get played so often by me because they are fun to me. The earliest games, in fact, existed as pure, distilled fun. The story was the game play, and that is the heart of every game we ever play. If the game play is not fun, a game is really going to struggle to get people to play it. Regardless of all other reasons we play video games, it is the game play that centralizes all of it. If a game is fun, we will play it.

Why do we play video games? They are fun, sure, but so are many other things in life. So, what brings us back to video games? It really is the amalgamation of it all. Video games are an escape, a community, and a respite. They provide a sense of accomplishment and a venue to engage us and make us consider and think about all around us. There are many careers to be forged around video games, and there are intimate moments we cannot find elsewhere. We can interact with the worlds, and ourselves in them, in a way that no other medium can match. Video games teach us to be resourceful, open minded, inquisitive, strategic, and thoughtful. They make us better readers. They make us better team players. They make us better people, if we learn their lessons of virtue while playing together. They help us to escape life's challenges, and to confront them. Considering everything, there is one conclusion: we play games because they are fun, and so much more than that.

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Playing video games is the best hobby there is. Sure, that's my opinion, but I'm certainly not alone. Video games have grown from humble beginnings to

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GTA 5 and the Ethical Dilemmas of the Gaming Industry.

According to (Orland. 2011), Grand Theft Auto V is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Rockstar North Games, it broke the record and became the fastest-selling entertainment product in history, passing $1bn of sales in the first three days of its release, in addition to winning 33 awards (BBC, 2014). Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three criminals and their efforts to commit heists while followed by a government agency.

In order for the players to receive cash and bonuses they must participate in killings, stealing cars, driving prostitutes around town and beating people up. (Stuart, K. 2012) One of the most controversial arguments about GTA 5 is that it is considered a highly provocative game that regardless of its "Mature" ratings is still available for all ages. (Ore, Jonathan. 2013) GTA 5 includes highly sensitive and offensive topics such as sexism, extreme violence and obscenity.

The game was even banned or partially banned in countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, Thailand, and Malaysia because it was unsuitable for children and encourages violence and nudity. In Australia for example, Target and Kmart, two retail chains, banned the game from their stores after three female survivors of violence launched a petition and gained more than 40,000 signatures, especially that the game allows players to have sex with prostitutes and then kill them to get health points (BBC, 2014).

On the other hand; in countries such as The United States, games fall under the protection of the first amendment "freedom of speech" which make it almost impossible to stop a game from being bought and sold and this is evident by its ongoing enhancements and updates. GTA since its release in 1997 has created 15 different versions that have boosted their graphics, created new universes as well as invented new activities and character development which made activities such as flying a helicopter or going to the movies available (Simpson, J. 2013). GTA 5 is extremely popular in the US and with sales of more than US$58 million per month in 2015(Sillis, Ben. 2015).

In regards to GTA 5, two perspectives persist to it; on one hand it is admired for its advanced production but on the other, it is criticized for the so claimed "harmful" impact its content has on the users.

The GTA Supporters are admired for its advanced graphics, its storytelling and soundtracks (Ore, 2013). Some claim that this game grants them liberty and the freedom of interaction that a player enjoys, which is not found in any previous game. According to Reynolds (2002), during the game the player can interact with any character, vehicle or weapon that they come across, players drive where they want and can even take a train across town; however, we ask that even if violent games like GTA don't have a direct effect on our behavior, if the games are just an escape, what does that say about how we escape? Is this our definition of 'fun' now? Is this how we 'play'? (Reynolds, 2002).

On the contrary, GTA Criticizers argue that the game has generated several controversies related to its violence and depiction of women. According to Macdonald (2013), a mission that requires players to use torture equipment in a hostage interrogation polarized reviewer, who noted its political commentary but felt that the torture sequence was in poor taste. The game became subject to widespread online debate over its portrayal of women, particularly in the wake of backlash against GameSpot journalist Carolyn Petit when she claimed the game was misogynistic in her review. In short, GTA is charged with being: sadistic; in bad taste; tending to reduce the players sense of responsibility, degrading to women; encouraging of violence and lastly - not the sort of game that a member of a civilized society would play.

Although scientists still don't have large enough sample groups to study the connection between playing video games and participating in violent acts (Mathews, n.d.). "My concern goes for little kids that tend to imitate almost everything they see" (Hern, 2013). For this reason, a huge responsibility falls on parents to take game ratings seriously and not expose their kids to early scenes until they are mature enough, because some of these scenes might enforce violent, racist, sexist, or even political acts in their minds at an early age.

Game producers have some ethical responsibilities towards their audience. Producers get a rating for their game, similar to assigned movie ratings. A game can be rated "E" for everyone, "E10+" for ages 10 and above, "Teen" for teens, or "M" which stands for mature or for ages 17 and above (Mathews, n.d.). Of course, not all people will abide by these game ratings, and the M rated games will be in the hands of kids that are younger than 17. In this case, As Reynolds stated: "Game producers are not responsible for who the game is used by, maybe a bit responsible for the consequences of this usage and exposure."

Thus, censorship or stricter regulations are not the most effective answer to the potential harms created by playing violent video-games, because censorship systems consistently fail to prevent violent video-games from reaching the market (Sinclair, 2014),when children are prohibited from buying certain games, they find ways to circumvent the restrictions (Video Games, 2008).

As a result, violent games like GTA 5 should be protected under free speech principles and other means of easing the dangers of playing these games like providing children with a sound moral upbringing. This means that parents and schools should teach children at a young age how to be digital natives and make their own informed choices. Finally, instead of putting all our efforts to suppress freedom of speech when it comes to gaming, we can employ them in digital media literacy.
Reference:
Mathews, R. (n.d.). Ethical Responsibility of Video Game Manufacturers. Retrieved from https://elearn.lau.edu.lb/bbcswebdav/pid-233777-dt-content-rid-716665_1/courses/JSC_419_11_201820/Ethical Responsibility of Video Game Manufacturers _ Chron.pdf

N.d. (2014). 'Sexually violent' GTA 5 banned from Australian stores. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30328314

Ore, J. (2013, September 16). Grand Theft Auto 5 gifted to 11-year-old boy. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2013/09/grand-theft-auto-5-gifted-11-year-old-boy-sparking-ratings-debate.html

Reynolds, R. (2002). Playing a "Good" Game: A Philosophical Approach to Understanding the Morality of Games. Retrieved from: http://www.igda.org/articles/rreynolds_ethics-s.php.

Sicart, M. (2009). The Ethics of Computer Games. Book. Retrieved from https://elearn.lau.edu.lb/bbcswebdav/pid-233781-dt-content-rid-716668_1/courses/JSC_419_11_201820/SICART_Ethics%20of%20Computer%20Games.pdf

Takahashi, Dean (7 April 2014). "'Mr. Tetris' explains why the puzzle game is still popular after three decades (interview)". VentureBeat. Retrieved 12 May 2016.

Thanks to Monika Halkort.

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According to (Orland. 2011), Grand Theft Auto V is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Rockstar North Games, it broke the record and became the fastest-selling entertainment...

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Pokemon Unite Alolan Ninetales holowear divides players over price tag

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Pokemon Unite Alolan Ninetales holowear divides players over price tag

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Lawrence Scotti Nintendo Pokemon Unite's Alolan Ninetales holowear has finally dropped in the game's store, but players have been left scratching their heads over the price tag.
Nintendo has released a ton of new Pokemon Unite skins since the game's launch, showing players they are willing to support the game as much as possible. One of those skins is fan-favorite Galactic Gengar.

Although many members of the community have been enjoying the steady release of skins, some have noticed the drastic increase in price in the most recent holowear release for Alolan Ninetales.

Scared Style Alolan Ninetales price

Holowear outfits for Pokemon typically fall into the 300-400 Aeos Gems price range, with more special ones like Captain Charizard going for 1,200.

However, the new Sacred Style Alolan Ninetales skin was released at a price of 2,499 Aeos Gems, which equates to $40. This is, by far, the most expensive skin in the game, and players took note of the drastic hike in pricing.

Reddit user Halvpolack shared a post to the Unite subreddit with concerns about the pricing of the skin saying, "The new Alolan Nintetales holowear is now out but it's crazy expensive."

The top comment on the thread places the price hike on the change to enhancers, saying: "Found where the revenue loss from the super enhancers went."

This is in reference to Nintendo lowering the price on enhancing held items, balancing the playing field for fans who don't want to invest money into the game.

Alolan Ninetales players weren't too happy when they found out the price tag with one, commenting: "I spent so much time talking myself into splurging 20 bucks on it (because I assumed that's what it was gonna cost) and even that felt like a huge stretch. There was still a part of me leaning towards "I probably shouldn't do this" even at 20 bucks. But 40 f**kin' dollars?!? Good lord. Hell no."

While it's good that Nintendo heavily reduced its "pay-to-win" system with enhancers, it may have come at the cost of skins being more expensive.

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Pokemon Unite Alolan Ninetales holowear divides players over price tag - Dexerto

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Pokemon Unite fans were shocked when Nintendo released the new Scared Style Alolan Ninetales skin with a huge price tag.

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Defining Media from the Perspective of Narratology

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Defining Media from the Perspective of Narratology

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What Does First Person Shooter (FPS) Mean?

A first person shooter (FPS) is a genre of action video game that is played from the point of view of the protagonist. FPS games typically map the gamer's movements and provide a view of what an actual person would see and do in the game.

A FPS usually shows the protagonist's arms at the bottom of the screen, carrying whatever weapon is equipped. The gamer is expected to propel his avatar through the game by moving it forward, backward, sideways and so on using the game controller. Forward movements of the controller result in the avatar moving forward through the scenery, usually with a slight left-right rocking motion to properly simulate the human gait. In order to increase the level of realism, many games include the sounds of breathing and footsteps in addition to the regular sound effects.

FPS games can be played in two general modes, mission or quest mode and multiplayer mode. The mission mode is usually the default mode for a single player. It usually involves the player battling through progressively harder game levels towards some ultimate goal. The multiplayer mode involves multiple gamers participating via a network and playing in a shared game environment. The multiplayer mode can take many forms, including:

Deathmatches

Capture the flag

Team deathmatch

Search and destroy

Base (a.k.a assault or headquarters)

Last man standing

Techopedia Explains First Person Shooter (FPS)

First person shooter primarily refers to the perspective of the game. There are other genres that also use the first person perspective occasionally, including racing games and boxing games. Shooters, that is games where various weapons (but mostly guns) are used to kill opponents, have been made using all the basic gaming perspectives: first person, third person, side scrolling, top-down and 3/4.

The first FPS was "Maze War", developed in 1973. However, it was the 1992 "Wolfenstein 3D" game that really entrenched the concept. Some of the most influential FPS games include "Doom", "Quake" and the "Half-Life: Counter Strike " series. All gained dedicated followers.

There is a wide variety of FPS games on the market. Many can be played on different platforms, including PCs, gaming consoles and handheld devices.

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What is First Person Shooter (FPS)? - Definition from Techopedia

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A first person shooter (FPS) is a genre of action video game that is played from the point of view of the protagonist. FPS games typically map the gamer's movements and provide a view of what an actual person would see and do in the game.

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Why RDR 2's Arthur Morgan is Still One of the Best Game Protagonists of the Decade

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Why RDR 2's Arthur Morgan is Still One of the Best Game Protagonists of the Decade

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Why RDR 2's Arthur Morgan is Still One of the Best Game Protagonists of the Decade

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Red Dead Redemption 2 succeeds on many fronts, but it all hinges on the game's protagonist, who is one of the best that gaming has ever seen.

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Grand Theft Auto V makes it cool to pick up - even kill - prostitutes | Cassie Rodenberg

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Grand Theft Auto V makes it cool to pick up - even kill - prostitutes | Cassie Rodenberg

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Prostitutes walk certain locations at night. There's a line of them in the industrial area. In something backless with thigh-high stockings. You can beep your horn to pick one up. "Get in gorgeous! Let's party," you'll shout. "Let's find someplace quiet, baby," she'll say.

Drive her to a secluded place, on a beach, next to the surf and palm trees.

"Go ahead, sugar. Tell me what you crave."

Select your service from a drop down menu on the screen - $50 for a blow job, $70 for a half-and-half or $100 for everything. Use your joystick to move the camera on the game, to get a good angle.

"Oh my god, fuck yeah, give it to me," she'll say. She'll keep talking for 20 seconds.

When you're done you leave her there, run the car forward next to her, then reverse, backing over her. You can get out of the car and beat her. She'll let you. Once she's dead, you can grab your money back from the ground.

This is all possible, even encouraged by tips on YouTube and chatrooms, in Grand Theft Auto V. In fact, your character's health (aka life points) goes up when you have sex with a prostitute.

Like many teenagers, students in New York City's poorest neighborhood, the South Bronx, play Grand Theft Auto V. It was the fastest entertainment property to ever gross $1bn, which it managed in its first three days of release in September. In the first 24 hours alone, the game sold 11m copies. That's 11m pixelated ghettos. The latest model is based like its predecessors on a high crime, poverty and gang violence area, this time outside Los Angeles. They see its advertisements featuring a sexy blonde character smirking on bus stops and the logoed stickers affixed to sidewalk posts and curbs.

They play at night instead of doing their homework. It's cool to pick up prostitutes. This is how you learn to "be a man". And while those students play their game, in their neighborhood, perhaps under their window, real prostitutes walk.

Millie was one of them, a woman who worked in South Bronx, who walked the streets. She stood on the track, a simulacrum of game pixels. Her hair was short and curly and she had an accent. Maybe she asked men, "want to party?"

She's dead now, dead like the on-screen women that are fun to kill. There, game and real women split. Millie died of an infection to the heart after too many hits of heroin into an abscess. She was an addict.

Men took her to a dumpster-filled lot, or to a Coca-Cola bottling plant, for a blow job, not to the beach. She would have celebrated $40 for a half-and-half. When her addiction peaked and her luck became short, $10 to earn a hit of heroin would suffice. $10 for most anything.

Sarah works the track, too. Her face is lined with grime, and she lives in a van on the side of the road, sometimes under the bridge of an overpass. She wears sneakers and sweatshirts, whatever she finds, instead of stockings. At work, she passes other women: Pepsi, Desire, Beauty, Egypt, Niecy. Other women who work to placate an addiction birthed by a lifetime's worth of abuse and bad circumstances that landed them there. They fear ending up like Millie, the dead one.

Many Bronx students, mostly males, many of whom live in shelters or subsist in the foster care system, play GTA V and laugh. They play a game advertised to them, one that insidiously belittles their world, giving them lessons on what to mock about it.

These teenagers have the power to reign over those whores. Game and real women merge.

What they see dictates that they should mock the women outside their windows, mothers and sisters and neighbors. They should harden and laugh like the rest of the world who thoughtlessly screw, dump and kill the bitches in ghettos, things that no longer seem real to them.

Millie died with four children in the foster care system, two of them teenage boys. Her body lies in a mass grave for unclaimed bodies, a place where her sons cannot visit. But they can reach one memory of her on screen, hear her say, "hey, baby," watch men shove her down.

* This article was amended on 27 December 2013 to clarify that killing prostitutes does not give a player additional points in the game, but having sex with them does.
Topics

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Grand Theft Auto V makes it cool to pick up - even kill - prostitutes | Cassie Rodenberg

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Prostitutes walk certain locations at night. There's a line of them in the industrial area. In something backless with thigh-high stockings. You can beep your horn to pick one up. "Get in gorgeous! Let's party," you'll shout. "Let's find someplace quiet, baby," she'll say.

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The return of Gamergate is smaller and sadder

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The return of Gamergate is smaller and sadder

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The Discord server at the center of Gamergate 2.0 is, in some respects, like any other online community. While I was there, I observed people talking about their day, their jobs, and their interests. Its members streamed themselves playing Bejeweled and showed off their personal video game development projects. But one chat room over, the server was filled with racist memes, sexist and ableist slurs, antisemitic messages, and incitations of violence against women and people of color. And at the center of it all was one video game narrative development company: Sweet Baby Inc.

This growing group of people want to believe themselves a new incarnation of Gamergate, a harassment campaign started in 2014 that targeted women speaking out against misogyny in the video games industry. Back then, the harassers used obfuscating tactics, cloaking their oftentimes violent harassment in the veneer of legitimate complaint. Social media gave a platform to those "legitimate complaints" while the games industry itself remained largely silent, allowing the movement to grow into a many-tentacled behemoth that bolstered the ranks of the "alt-right" movements that plague our political landscape to this very day.

But this time, instead of assembling under the false banner of "ethics in journalism," this new campaign has chosen " wokeism " and Sweet Baby as the focus of their grievances. The result has been a wave of bigoted harassment targeting marginalized developers, journalists, and gamers. On social media, the employees of Sweet Baby are subject to a deluge of death threats. Developers who've spoken out in support of Sweet Baby are faced with similar treatment, with several making their accounts private in an attempt to stem the tide of abuse. Journalists reporting on the story have become subject to the same harassment they're covering. The resulting frenzy has been amplified by major actors in the right-wing media sphere, including Libs of TikTok, Matt Walsh, Ian Miles Cheong, and Elon Musk.

"The things they say in our inboxes is ... the most evil stuff you've ever seen in your life," said David Bédard, co-founder and COO of Sweet Baby, in an interview with The Verge.

The harassment campaign against Sweet Baby echoes the Gamergate movement of 10 years ago, once again targeting women, people of color, and journalists in the games industry. But this time, the events are playing out differently. Developers and gamers are pushing back, affirming that the kind of diversity these people rail against is here to stay. And after speaking with Sweet Baby employees and spending time with their detractors, it's clear the goals of this harassment campaign are largely a reactionary backlash against trends in video games that cannot be meaningfully stopped.

"The things they say in our inboxes is ... the most evil stuff you've ever seen in your life."

Sweet Baby was co-founded in Montreal in 2018 by Bédard, who'd previously worked in games marketing at Eidos and Ubisoft, and Kim Belair, a writer and narrative designer who'd worked at Ubisoft and Reflector Entertainment. The narrative development company offers services like script writing, story reviews, and sensitivity readings. "Essentially, everything that touches storytelling in games, whether creative or technical," Belair said in an interview with The Verge.

The neo-Gamergate fervor surrounding Sweet Baby started with a Brazilian Steam user by the name of Kabrutus. In January, he created the Steam curation page called "Sweet Baby Inc Detected" (SBID), which, the page's description explains, is "a tracker for games involved with Sweet Baby Inc." According to an interview with Kabrutus in Geeks and Gamers, he believes Sweet Baby is responsible for "forc[ing] political agendas and DEI (the abbreviation for diversity, equity, and inclusion) into their games."

Kabrutus believes that any diverse characters or stories in Sweet Baby games are the result of its employees exerting pressure on developers to make additions or changes they might not otherwise make. "I started noticing patterns in some games, like ugly women and male characters being weakened to make female ones look stronger," Kabrutus said in Geeks and Gamers. The game that brought his attention to Sweet Baby was God of War Ragnarök. "I think anyone who played God of War III would find it really weird when Kratos decides to spare Thor and says, 'We must be better.' That simply didn't fit the character."

According to Kabrutus and the thousands of followers he's recruited through his Steam group and Discord server, developers have no choice but to make these "woke" narrative changes. SBID argues that game companies are forced to add "wokeness" to improve their ESG scores - a measure of environmental, social, and governance considerations - if they want to land investors. SBID supporters also argue that Sweet Baby has coerced developers into making changes through fear, pointing to out-of-context quotes from the company.

The most widely circulated example involves clips of a talk Belair, a Black woman, gave at the Game Developers Conference in 2019. In it, she counsels developers to "terrify" their bosses with the "threat" of "cancellation" if their requests for inclusivity are not met.

But a look at the clip's full context tells a different story. It's clear that Belair didn't want developers to scare their superiors into inclusivity. Instead, she wanted them to enlist support from the employees - those on the marketing and community side - who stand to receive the most backlash from players if those concerns aren't taken seriously.

In reality, Sweet Baby and other video game consultants are contracted by the studios to support the studios' own goals.

"They consult," wrote Mary Kenney, the associate narrative director on the forthcoming Wolverine game from Insomniac Games who worked with Sweet Baby on another Insomniac title,Marvel's Spider-Man 2. "They do research, pitch ideas, give feedback, and maybe even write scripts. But none of that gets into the game unless the core dev team agrees with it."

"Sometimes we'll be brought in to just look at a project storyline to give feedback on it to find ways that it can better kind of align with gameplay mechanics," Belair said.

Kyle Rowley, game director on , responded to a rumor on X that Sweet Baby was responsible for changing Saga Anderson, one of the game's main characters, from a white woman to a Black woman. "It's absolutely not true," he wrote.

To date, Kabrutus' curation list features 16 games, including Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, and Sable. All the games on the list are marked "not recommended," a rating that has nothing to do with the game's perceived quality - one game on the list, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, doesn't launch until April - but because of Sweet Baby's involvement in the game's development. SBID serves as a warning to like-minded gamers not to buy anything on the list.

"We're just tired of seeing people's creative visions being butchered in order to add something that's not even necessary or asked for," wrote Xynjy, a moderator for the Discord server, in a DM conversation.

The reality is game development, especially AAA development, involves contributions from massive multidisciplinary teams, and it's actually quite difficult to attribute any one element to an individual or specific team.

"You wouldn't ask a programmer 'which part of this did you code?'" said Bédard. "The whole thing is a team effort, and it only works because everything fits to the other parts really well."

It is deeply ironic that one of the group's stated purposes is to rally against "forced diversity" in games when developers are often forced to make their games more homogenous.

"I have never in my entire career seen anyone pressure a developer to make a character more queer or less white," wrote Christina Pollock, a veteran game developer. "I have, however, seen many instances of developers being forced to change their characters to be straight and / or white."

Many other developers echoed her sentiment. "The anti-censorship crowd like to argue that developers should be able to make the game they want, without being told to make changes to please the market," wrote Gavin Young, a developer on Rainbow Six Mobile. "Believe me, we're trying: we put diverse characters in games because they represent our teams and our friends."

Another common refrain from members of SBID is that they actually don't care if a character comes from a marginalized background, so long as their identity isn't the sole focus of their character.

"My problem with most media nowadays is that they include Black or LGBTQ characters without giving some thoughts about them," wrote SBID's Discord moderator. "But [they] forget the most important aspect of a character: [their] relatability and how [they] feel like a real person that you can meet in real life."

But that need for character depth is the exact reason why developers contract with Sweet Baby.

For their work on Alan Wake 2, Belair said, "We were specifically called to look at Saga's story, [to look at] how it's told, how [the developers] could better shore up aspects of herself, how her story reflects aspects of her identity, and essentially how to realize her as a fully human, fully authentic character."

This lack of understanding about game development, whether intentional or not, belies the group's true function - a convenient excuse for "anti-woke" reactionary gamers to indulge in racist and misogynistic behavior that's typically shunned in online communities. "When I act racist, homophobic or whatever [...] I feel free," one poster wrote in the Discord.

The arguments and discussions observed in the Discord and on Steam all harken to the reactionary right-wing movement that has dominated the political landscape since Barack Obama's presidency. Then, as now, many young white men have grown increasingly alienated from a world they feel has left them behind. A supposed de-emphasis of white males in pop culture in favor of women, people of color, and queer people exacerbated this alienation, especially in video games.

Statistically, white men still dominate the video game space in terms of who is playing, making, starring, and writing about games. But the landscape is changing. Companies are putting a greater effort in diversifying their games. Games media is more likely to call out when diversity is absent or done poorly, and the kinds of anti-social behaviors that were once the hallmark of gaming culture are becoming less and less tolerated. As a result, Kabrutus and his followers feel disenfranchised.

"We're in an age where [...] if you don't want to see a BLM or a Pride flag in a game, you're a bigot," wrote a member in the Discord. "Where if you care that the women in games have big tits while there are giant, muscular, shirtless dudes, you're a misogynist."

In order to regain some semblance of control, the members of SBID have chosen to attack something that neatly represents their every grievance - a small company that specializes in improving a game's narrative staffed in part by women, queer people, and people of color. "We'll have to make sure Sweet Baby is actually dead before picking a next target to go after together," wrote a user on SBID's Steam forum.

Based on the time I spent lurking in their Discord, it became clear these people aren't actually here to create meaningful change for their cause. Most are simply there for the vibes, rancid though they are. "I'm just here cause it's fun, nothing's gonna happen," one user wrote in the Discord.

"I'm just here cause it's fun, nothing's gonna happen"

"[There are] lots of emotions and passion bottled up from being silenced for an extended period of time," wrote another member of the Discord. "This [movement] is basically causing everyone to vent out their frustrations."

That doesn't mean the group is harmless. Ten years ago, Gamergate unleashed a wave of harassment targeting women, journalists, and people of color. It created the template for a kind of violent, right-wing internet culture that persists to this day. And the guise of "ethics in games journalism," thin as it was, allowed the movement to shield its true aims. Since SBID to itself as the second coming of Gamergate, it's important to apply the lessons not learned from the previous Gamergate and call this bigoted movement for what it is, loudly and vociferously.

Diversity in video games isn't going anywhere, and the practice of hiring consultants to punch up narratives certainly isn't going to change. Improving diversity continues to be an animating force in the industry. Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony have made DEI a core part of their business with commitments to diversify not only their workforces but their games as well.

"DEI is a moral necessity until the people making games are a decent approximation of the world they are making games for," wrote Sam Barlow, director of several award-winning games, including Immortality, Telling Lies, and Her Story.

SBID's championing of developer "freedom and creativity" fails to consider the possibility that the "diversity" they oppose might actually be what developers and gamers truly want. It's the reason studios hire companies like Sweet Baby in the first place.

And while this movement matters to Sweet Baby employees because of the harassment they're receiving, in the larger context of the video game industry, it seems to be quickly fizzling out.

Steam has apparently taken some action against SBID. As of publication, the vast majority of the SBID's Steam discussion forum - 100 pages worth of threads - have been deleted, and existing threads are currently locked.

Meanwhile, Sweet Baby's clients are sticking with the company. "The studios that we're currently working with have reached out and offered their support, saying like, 'Hey, we see what's happening online and just know we stand with you,'" said Chris Kindred, a narrative designer at Sweet Baby.

In an email to The Verge, Gregorios Kythreotis, creative director on , wrote, "[Sweet Baby was] lovely to work with, extremely professional and easy going, they respected our creative direction and it was a really great experience. We're really grateful to them."

Mary Kenney, who worked with Sweet Baby on Spider-Man 2, called them "one of the finest in the biz."

"I'm so lucky to have worked with that team. I hope to do so again," she posted on X. "I hope asshats don't drive out some of the most talented, passionate people we've got."

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The return of Gamergate is smaller and sadder

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There is a movement of gamers calling themselves Gamergate 2.0 responsible for violently harassing a small narrative consultant company, Sweet Baby Inc., for its work in enhancing diversity in video games.

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Mass Effect: Understanding the Morality System

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Mass Effect: Understanding the Morality System

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One of the most unique features in BioWare's Mass Effect franchise is the introduction of a balanced morality system. Shaped by Commander Shepard's choices, actions and reactions, the morality system is designed to not only mold the galaxy around the player, but to establish Shepard's personality as well. Whether Shepard is a Paragon of virtue or a Renegade bent on wreaking further havoc in an already chaotic universe is up to the player, and this helps make each game feel more personal and realistic.

Commander Shepard carries the weight of the galaxy on their shoulders, and how they react to the situations they face can make a world of difference in how the galaxy reacts to Shepard, including whether they head their advice. It's up to the player whether or not other know that they can count on Shepard to make things right -- or if they fear the very name "Commander Shepard" for the chaos they are known to cause.

Related: Mass Effect Guide: Raiding Saren's Facility On Virmire

Morality interrupts appear all throughout the game, specifically while interacting with the NPCs. They are proceeded by a quick sound and often interrupt ongoing dialogue to allow Shepard to intervene politely or with antagonistic reactions that come to define their nature. As a human in a position of power, Shepard's choices often affect the entire galaxy. When tensions rise, the player character's reactions determine how events play out, as well as how the people in the galaxy perceive them.

Mass Effect's morality point system may seem black and white (or red and blue) at first glance, but every morality choice Shepard makes shapes the game's dialogue and reaction options as the plot progresses. The more morality points Shepard earns, the better their chances of convincing characters to follow their advice or carry out their will -- either through persuasive charm or forceful intimidation.

BioWare has used morality systems in a number of its games, but the unique aspect of the Renegade/Paragon point system is that the game keeps track of them separately, weighing them against each other to define the character overall. A high-level Paragon can get away with the occasional Renegade response without creating a Shepard that everyone fears interacting with. On the other hand, a high-level Renegade can't smooth over the galaxy's perception of them by simply performing the occasional good deed. Actions define perception, and when trying to rally an entire galaxy, perception is everything.

Related: Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Fixes the Trilogy's Most EMBARASSING Moment

Because of the way the system works, players who don't have enough points in either direction often won't receive the same opportunities to charm or intimidate. Shepards who lean heavier in one direction or the other will only have the opportunity to offer the response or perform the action that coincides with their primary morality. At times, a good balance between the two will offer either option. However, there are times when it's important to have as many points as possible in one or the other.

For example, in Mass Effect 2, the relationship between Jack and Miranda is volatile because of Jack's tragic history with Cerberus and Miranda's seemingly blind loyalty to the Illusive Man. After completing Jack's personal mission, things between the two women come to a violent head, and Shepard has to intervene. If the player wants to maintain the loyalty of both squadmates, they need to either calm their emotions to convince them to work together or intimidate them into looking at the bigger picture so they can complete the mission.

If Shepard's Renegade or Paragon points aren't high enough to trigger those responses, they're forced to choose a side, potentially losing the loyalty of the squadmate not chosen. A disloyal squadmate has a higher chance of dying during the suicide mission, which makes things a lot more difficult down the line.

Related: Can't Afford Mass Effect Legendary Edition? Get Game Pass Ultimate Instead

ME2 also introduced a Cerberus-resurrected Shepard who starts the game with deep scarring. Dr. Chakwas explained that the more kindness Shepard displayed, the less noticeable their scars would become. However, a Renegade Shepard who behaved rashly and inconsiderately would see their scars continue to worsen with every bad deed. Shepard's scarring carries over into the third game, clearly defining the type of hero or miscreant the player chooses to become.

To achieve the best results with the morality system, consistency is key. Once the player decides what type of person their Shepard will be, it's important to stick with those morality choices whenever they crop up. Consistent Paragon choices will inevitably breed more opportunities to make mindful, positive choices, and vice-versa. The more morality points Shepard earns, the easier it will become to carry out certain tasks and convince the people of the galaxy to take their advice.

There is a lot at stake in the Mass Effect trilogy, especially once the rest of the galaxy acknowledges the Reaper threat. Becoming a true icon capable of convincing the galactic leaders to follow Shepard's lead through the chaos, either through virtue and reason or aggressive intimidation, means taking advantage of every morality option that presents itself to ensure those Paragon and Renegade points make the most convincing statement.

KEEP READING: Mass Effect 2 Guide: How to Recruit the Krogan Warlord

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Mass Effect: Understanding the Morality System

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Commander Shepard's choices often influence other aspects of the game. Here's how the Paragon/Renegade morality system works in Mass Effect.

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How loot crates and unlocks really work in Star Wars Battlefront 2

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How loot crates and unlocks really work in Star Wars Battlefront 2

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A long time ago, a man worked out how to merchandise popular entertainment at a hitherto unprecedented level. 40 years later, C-3PO lunchboxes in Woolworths have given way to microtransaction loot crates in EA's Star Wars Battlefront 2. With the game out this week, millions of voices are already crying out in terror about the time and/or costs involved in accessing every character, weapon and rechargeable grenade variant. I'm here to cut through the noise and examine how loot crates, unlocks, payments, and grind work within SWBF2 - and how incorporating this oh-so-2017 goldrush into an online shooter disrupts the experience of playing it.

I do want to say up front that even detailing all this stuff requires an ungodly number of words, which speaks to a needless degree of complexity that distracts from the core act of Shooting Some Dudes.

OK! Battlefront 2 has four, for lack of a better word, currencies.

The primary currency is Credits. Credits buy loot crates, which contain randomly-allocated Star Cards (see below), sometimes the crafting resource Scrap (also see below), and sometimes more Credits. Credits also unlock extra Hero characters, who I'll return to later. You gain some Credits by playing in matches and meeting targets, e.g. kill x dudes while playing as Assault class. I earned around 3,000 credits from half a dozen matches but obviously this can vary.

Completing the singleplayer campaign also offers a chunk of 5,000 Credits. The solo 'Arcade' mode rewards Credits too but with a restriction, only giving paying out up to a certain point then not again until the next day. This is both harsh and strange, given that at that point you could just go play some multiplayer - where the unlocks are actually used.

Scrap is the secondary currency, used to craft specific Star Cards and, more importantly, to upgrade Star Cards. Star Cards are how character customisation is handled, representing different or upgraded weapons, active abilities, and passive perk bonuses such as speedier health recharge. Though Scrap is not directly earned through play, it's the currency you most directly require for upgrades.

Crystals are the currency sold for real money. These buy the same loot crates as Credits do - i.e. which primarily contain a few randomly-chosen Star Cards. In theory buying Crystals enables you to sidestep the lengthy play matches - earn Credits - buy Crates - get Scrap - build/upgrade Cards loop - but, if you're after specific cards, the blind bag element means you'll almost certainly have to buy multiple Crates. Crystals also can't directly buy Credits or Scrap, but you're very likely to find some by opening a few crates. Crystals cost:

500 for £3.99/$4.99
1,000 for £7.99/$9.99
2,100 for £15.99/$19.99
4,400 for £31.99/$39.00
12,000 for £79.99/$99.99

Loot crates, meanwhile, cost:

Trooper (cards for general infantry): 4,000 credits / 200 Crystals
Starfighter (cards for spaceships): 2,400 credits/ 120 Crystals
Hero (cards for Star Wars icons such as Luke, Vader, Yoda and, er, Bossk): 2,200 credits / 110 Crystals

So 12,000 Crystals for $100 would buy you 60 Trooper crates (more if you were buying Starfighter or Hero ones), each of which contains from 1-3 random Star Cards - i.e. something between 60 and 180 in total. There are currently 324 Star Cards to acquire, across all classes, vehicles and characters, but clearly the odds of a crate containing a duplicate card only grow as you open more. Some high-level cards are extremely rare, too. As such, spending an additional $100 on your $60 videogame wouldn't get you even close to having everything (without also putting a lot of hours in, at least), and I suspect the actual spend required to do so could well reach four figures. This is the darkness of loot crates. And, even if $100 was all it took for everything - still very, very dark.

The final currency is Battle Points. This is one is significantly different in that it's not persistent. You earn Battle Points by performing well in matches, and can only spend them in that same match. They allow you to spawn as various vehicles or Hero characters, but for just one life. If you want to spawn as that thing again after you get killed, you'll need to earn enough Points again. Bluntly, if you don't score many kills, you're unlikely to earn enough Battle Points to play as, say, Vader.

After you've unlocked him to even be available to activate with Battle Points, of course. The 15,000 Credits price each to unlock Vader and other top-tier Heroes is not a tall order if you're only after a specific one - you could earn it in a solid couple of hours play, though that really adds up if you want everyone. Before the recent Hero price cuts, they were a whopping 40,000 Credits, which would take dozens of hours and yes, that is somewhat ridiculous.

For what it's worth, at least some big-name heroes, including Rey and Han Solo, are unlocked from the start - it's not that all the famous faces are locked behind some paywall. I can, with a squint, just about see this as errant dev/publisher thinking about how big a deal it is to get to play as Darth chuffing Vader (i.e. as the ultimate unlock) rather than necessarily microtransaction greed. But it could go either way.

(As an aside, if your Star Wars fantasy is simply to kill Rebel scum with Vader's choky-neck magic, you can do so within three minutes of loading the game - just not in multiplayer. The second Dark Side mission in the singleplayer Arcade mode, which pits players against waves of AI attackers, gives the opportunity to be Vader killing dozens of the devils.)

An arguably overlooked question in all this is whether you need everything? All 324 Star Cards, every costume piece, every grenade variant or minor boost to ability recharge times for every single class, vehicle and hero? Or: will you really play as every class and every character consistently enough to require this stuff? Dunno about you, but I tend to find and then stick to favourites. And: how beneficial, really, are any of these upgrades in a game that consistently boils down to who can most reliably shoot other guys in the head from half a mile away anyway?

But there's a principle element at work too, isn't there? We don't like missing out, we want things we paid for to be complete, we especially don't like to think that someone with more cash/naivety could skip the hard work we put in. On top of that, we are trained/tricked by oh-so-many games to believe that getting a new thing is necessary, that it will make a real difference, and this is something that Battlefront 2 exploits. I'm not convinced that many of these earned/bought perks are meaningful. Battlefront 2 nonetheless takes blatant advantage of this kind of thinking: it pins so much to so many unlock systems, requiring either a ludicrous time investment or, bitterly cynically, paying for a shortcut. The exploitative nature of the loot crate system - that you don't know what you'll get and you might open several before getting something you want - only makes this worse.

I don't like it for reasons beyond that too. It's a mess of overlapping, abstracted notions, as the sheer length of this description reveals. It's conceptually at odds with what's supposed to be a desperate battle between Rebels and Imperials (or the Abrams variants thereof). It's a whole bunch of noise on the interface. And, worst of all, it often serves to make the actual experience of battle meaningless because all you're interested in is how much closer it's taken you to a new crate. It is one of several factors that make this a Star Wars game I don't particularly enjoy playing, but that's another story.

However, I would argue that some of the online reaction to Battlefront's crates and points has occasionally gotten out of hand, or at least missed the underlying issue. Yes, it makes the game pretty darn skeezy in that you can indeed pay to get an early advantage, and even then via a manipulative lottery system, but at no point have I gotten the sense that I need many of the unlocks, and so have felt no temptation to stump up cash. I figure, if I stick with it, I'll sooner or later gain most of the stuff I actually want for the classes and characters I most enjoy. All of this stuff hinges on our collective belief as players that unlocks are paramount, and clearly SWBF2 and games like it are aggressively fighting to make us succumb to that delusion.

But, for those who do desire the entire experience, being kept at deliberate arm's length from everything they've already paid good money for is a cruel insult, worsened by the glaring option to shortcut the grind with more cash, that is in turn gated behind a blind bag lottery system. Optional or no, it's a deeply ugly precedent, and worst of all, this cavalcade of currencies, crates and diminishing-return upgrades disrupts the game experience itself. What would ol' George and his lunchboxes make of all this, I wonder?
Our Battlefront 2 is in the works. The singleplayer campaign will come first, then a multiplayer review.

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Star Wars Battlefront 2 loot crates explained

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A long time ago, a man worked out how to merchandise popular entertainment at a hitherto unprecedented level. 40 years ...

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Pokémon Unite Alolan Ninetales' $40 Holowear Is Most Expensive Yet

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Pokémon Unite Alolan Ninetales' $40 Holowear Is Most Expensive Yet

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Pokémon Unite Alolan Ninetales' $40 Holowear Is Most Expensive Yet

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A new cosmetic item in Pokémon Unite will cost players $40 in real-world currency, leading many fans to decry the game's microtransactions.

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#Gamergate and The Fappening: How Reddit’s algorithm, governance, and culture support toxic technocultures

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#Gamergate and The Fappening: How Reddit’s algorithm, governance, and culture support toxic technocultures

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Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong

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Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong

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Microtransactions, Explained: Here's What You Need To Know

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Microtransactions, Explained: Here's What You Need To Know

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Microtransactions, Explained: Here’s What You Need To Know

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Here’s what you need to know about the controversial business practice.

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Pokemon Unite Charging The Same Price As A Game For A Ninetales Skin Is Ridiculous

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Pokemon Unite Charging The Same Price As A Game For A Ninetales Skin Is Ridiculous

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Discussion about monetisation in Pokemon Unite has been pretty polarising over the last couple of months. While some people reckon it's pay-to-win, others - myself included - reckon the microtransaction footprint is frustrating but not necessarily detrimental to people who want to play without investing money, which has become particularly true ever since the item enhancer overhaul a few weeks ago. At the time, I wrote a piece specifically talking about how things were looking up for Unite. What a naive little boy I was.

This weekend, Pokemon Unite developer Timi Studios unveiled an all-new skin for Alolan Ninetales. "That looks pretty cool," I thought to myself. I generally don't really care for cosmetics in games, but even my attention is occasionally grabbed by decent designs. Ninetales is also a great Pokemon, which obviously helps.

"Oh, hang on," I muttered. "It costs... over 2,000 Aeos gems. Wut?"

Related: Pokemon Red & Blue's Silph Co. Rival Fight Is Still The Best In The Series

For those unacquainted with how microtransactions function in Unite, there are several distinct types of in-game currency, all of which have their own individual uses. Aeos coins and Aeos tickets are earned by simply playing the game, but Aeos gems can only be obtained by exchanging real money for them. The Alolan Ninetales skin, when converted into actual cash we earn from working real-life jobs, clocks in at around $40.

Forty. Dollars. Do you know how many great indies you could get for that price? The Witcher 3 is like 20 quid on Switch right now. The Sacred Alolan Ninetales skin costs you literally two Witcher 3s. I think it's fair to say that this, reader, is a complete and utter joke. Why opt for 100 hours with Geralt of Rivia (x2) when you can buy a virtual scarf thing for a Pokemon in a MOBA? Clearly the Sacred Alolan Ninetales skin is excellent value for money. I mean, it's only two thirds of Breath of the Wild! Bargain.

Realistically, anti-consumer initiatives like this are extremely bad for a game's longevity. It's fairly likely that this is indirectly related to the introduction of super item enhancers - now that Unite is fairer about leveling items, it's no surprise that Timi is attempting to bolster sales elsewhere. Cosmetics are completely optional purchases and will never instigate any kind of typical pay-to-win debate - microtransactions of this type can obviously still be predatory, but compared to actual pay-to-win mechanics, they're often given more of a free pass (ironic).

But again: $40! That is an inordinate amount of money to spend on fake clothes for a Pokemon on your telly. I'd understand a tenner - I wouldn't spend it personally, but it's a lot more reasonable. 40 quid though? Absurd Absol! Ludicrous Lucario! Wild, Wild Wigglytuff!

Let's not forget that this is emphatically a Pokemon game, too. At the time of writing, over 30 million people have downloaded it on mobile - on top of another 9 million who installed it on Switch prior to that. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess there are probably quite a lot of kids playing Unite. Fancy new Ninetales skin? No worries, mam and dad's card is linked to the eShop. Yes, the Switch offers parental controls, and yes, the onus is generally on parents themselves to enforce that said controls function properly - that doesn't make it any less shady. The mix of currencies is already enough to confuse kids - having it so they can drop $40 on a silly little skin in a matter of seconds without fully understanding the real-life cost and consequence of that is pretty damn nefarious.

Pokemon Unite is a great game and I've really been enjoying my time with it over the last few months. This, though? This is ridiculous and deserves to be called out. Like, maybe just... don't? Forty. Dollars. Rubbish.

Next: Destiny Deoxys Is The Ultimate Pokemon Kaiju Film

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Pokemon Unite Charging The Same Price As A Game For A Ninetales Skin Is Ridiculous

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What would you prefer: Two copies of The Witcher 3 or a mediocre Ninetales skin in Pokemon Unite? One option is cheaper than the other.

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Video Games Are Better Without Mechanics

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Video Games Are Better Without Mechanics

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This is a transcript of an article that appeared originally in the November-December 1992 issue of PC Prospect magazine, a relatively obscure microcomputing/gaming publication that published only two years of bimonthly issues before it went bankrupt in 1993. Brian Iagos, the original author, retained the copyright and gave me permission (through a mutual friend) to resurface it now, though he refuses categorically to be contacted by anyone else or to use the internet. This piece is provided for historical interest only; all opinions expressed here are Brian's.

A longstanding dream: Videogames will become complex systems of interactions adding up to a complete simulation of a real (or imagined) world. The history of hobby gaming, through wargaming, miniatures games, Dungeons & Dragons and its descendants, is a march towards ever increased precision in representing a world. The current version of D&D, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition, features rules and tables to calculate the gross national income of medieval kingdoms, the growth rate of dragon hoards, the amount of time a dwarf can survive after losing a leg, or how long an archetypal adventuring party (fighter, magic user, thief, and cleric) would take to dig a trench.

Perfect simulation of the natural world, of course, is an impossible bar to reach. So instead, game designers have approached this by developing game mechanics; rules that when put together, form a simplistic representation of how the world works.

The early arcade game, Pong, was a representation of the real-world activity of ping pong. But the limited graphical capabilities of early Pong machines meant that you couldn't display something that looked like a ping pong ball, let alone a paddle. The "paddles" are bars of white light; the "ball" is a dot, which is in fact rendered as a square.

Pong (1972)

To properly represent ping-pong, the designers of Pong were forced to make it clear that the square dot was a ping-pong ball, by making it behave like a ping-pong ball. The ball in Pong bounces in a mechanistic approximation of how a real-world ball behaves. And so, even though it's square and not round, and it's a two-dimensional image on a screen instead of a three-dimensional object in physical space, the square dot becomes a ball. In other words, the earliest video games had interaction so that they could be understood.

This approach raises many questions. Is a simulation truly a simulation if its rules are simplifications of the real thing? Are videogames really simulations, when they are actually a type of electronic film? And most of all, are those simulations better than actually playing ping-pong, or actually trekking through a jungle (as opposed to playing Pitfall)?

This early assumption, that games need interaction to represent the world, quickly became infrastructural, and was forgotten. Games continued to incorporate mechanics even though, with the advent of advances such as CGA and EGA graphics, they could now represent the world with enough fidelity to make objects, and even characters, recognizable.

Transmedia approaches, too, transformed the issue of representing reality in games: Thanks to the text parser interface, games such as Zork (1980) realized that they could import and incorporate literary conventions into videogames. This led to the emergence of story, videogames' obvious true vocation as a medium.

Should a modern Pong still simulate the motion of a ping pong ball, given that it's so much easier now to just draw a recognizable image of a ping pong ball? With today's 320x200 VGA video adapters, you could even show the manufacturer's logo on the ball!

The very idea of video game simulation implies that the player should be able to do anything in the simulated world and see wide-ranging effects of his actions. The only serious effort at all-encompassing simulation was specifically (and solely) SimEarth, a sophisticated environmental simulation released by Maxis in 1990.

SimEarth worked remarkably well - for a videogame. But it was still easily undermined. One player, for example, chose to repeatedly hit their simulated planet with asteroids, until they got bored because life refused to develop on their planet.

Shooting games offer a solution to this problem. Instead of trying to simulate sophisticated emergent systems, the genre gives up on both, focusing exclusively on shooting enemies with a gun. Wolfenstein 3D, for example, is composed of nothing but shooting enemies with a gun. The payoff, if it can be called that, takes place when the player kills a mechanized version of Hitler armed with twin miniguns.

In Wolfenstein 3D, the game simulates bullet trajectories using a novel technique known as ray-casting. This allows the game to evaluate whether your shots are hitting the game's enemies, portrayed as hordes of nazi soldiers. The game also simulates the state of the player character's health, in a simplistic way, as a single number from 100 to 0. But it doesn't simulate at all the player character's morale or psychic state; there is no mechanic to simulate the trauma of mowing down dozens of enemy soldiers. Enemies, too, simply collapse when shot; there's no mechanic for talking them down or having a discussion about the merits of Nazism as an ideology.

Wolfenstein 3D was praised for its shooting action, which I compare to a state fair shooting gallery. Hardly anything to be ashamed of, but maybe nothing much nothing to praise, either. If the ultimate bar for visceral grip in video games is set at fairground games, then perhaps videogames will remain stuck as children's toys even if they escape the stereotypical suburban tract home den. Other paths are possible, and perhaps the most promising ones will bypass gaming's pointless urge towards simulation.

Night Trap, released in October of this year, both adopts and improves upon this model of simple, direct interaction. Instead of shooting enemies, you trap them, but this is basically equivalent to the shooting in Wolfenstein 3D. You see an enemy (in this case, vampires known as augers in the game's fiction) and then you trap it. It simplifies this methodology even further in that you don't have to aim in order to trap enemies, demonstrating how unnecessary the aiming controls in Wolfenstein 3D really are.

It's set in a mansion during a slumber party, viewed through a set of CCTV cameras; to display this setting, it uses novel FMV (full-motion video) technology.

Because of its extreme simplicity, the mechanics are good, which is uncommon for videogames. It's an effective version of the shooter. Yet, it leaves us with a question: Why is this experience tied down by mechanics at all?

The whole way through, I found myself wondering why I couldn't experience Night Trap without having to trap enemies. What if enemies automatically trapped themselves, and I could simply watch the story unfold? After all, the setting, characters, and story are what I'm really here for, and they're what is unique to video games, now that the medium has advanced to incorporate FMV. Trapping enemies only gets in the way of experiencing the story.

One answer could be sports envy. The games industry has long dreamed of supplanting sports as a form of mass entertainment, leading to such fanciful notions as "electronic sports" that would be played with joysticks instead of balls. A more compelling (though still bad) answer is that by using interactivity, Night Trap makes the player complicit in the story. If you don't trap a vampire in time, one of the girls having a slumber party might be attacked by them!

That is a remarkable achievement, but it's not really an achievement of gameplay or mechanics at all. Rather, it is a novel expression of the ability to use affect combined with full motion video to tell sophisticated stories. Night Trap is a trap-em-up arcade game in the vein of Lode Runner, sure, but first and foremost it's an electronic, multiplexing, digital, advanced form of television.

Think of a medium as the aesthetic form of common materials. Poetry aestheticizes mouth noises. Painting aestheticizes picture frames. Photography does so for celebrities. Film, for celluloid grain and Dolby Surround. Architecture, for acoustics and real estate development. Cable television, for time and coaxial cables. Sure, yes, those media can and do contain interactivity: staring at a painting, adjusting the volume on your television set. But that interactivity comes later, after the aesthetic.

What are games good for, then? Players and creators have been mistaken in thinking videogames can match the interactivity of shooting real deer in a real forest, or playing with the graphical equalizer on your stereo. Instead, games are the aesthetic form of electronic data, put to the job of representing real-world narratives and objects.

The true achievement of Night Trap is that it invites players to finally abandon the fantasy of simulation and systems in games, and instead replaces them with pure call-and-response interaction in a storytelling mode. Yes, you can make a game that simulates the real world, but what's the point when the real world already exists. A greater ambition, and which games accomplish more effectively anyway, would be to use games to tell stories, supplanting films and novels as narrative media.

The wargamer's dream of simulation is just a complication of actually doing things, and doing things has been thoroughly revealed as pointless in postmodernity. If there is a future in games, let alone a future where they are anything other than toys for children, they must embrace what they are already so good at: using full-motion video to tell stories.

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This is a transcript of an article that appeared originally in the November-December 1992 issue of PC Prospect magazine; I've salvaged it for reasons of historical interest.

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Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) is an action-adventure free-roaming role-playing video game set in the fictional state of San Andreas (Wikipedia). The game's story follows three criminals whose goal is to...

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Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy

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Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy

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A set of IRC logs released Saturday appear to show that a handful of 4chan users were ultimately behind #GamerGate, the supposedly grass-roots movement aimed at exposing ethical lapses in gaming journalism. The logs show a small group of users orchestrating a "hashtag campaign" to perpetuate misogynistic attacks by wrapping them in a debate about ethics in gaming journalism.

The saga grew from a single blog post written by an ex-boyfriend of Zoe Quinn, a game developer who designed Depression Quest. The post was a lengthy diatribe filled with details about Quinn's alleged relationships with men, including a tryst with a gaming journalist who works for Kotaku. Anonymous users on reddit and 4chan spun this material into a story about how Quinn allegedly slept with multiple gaming journalists in return for coverage, though the allegations did not support such a claim. The journalist in question had quoted Quinn, once, months before they dated; he never wrote about her or her development efforts again.

Nevertheless, Quinn soon had her accounts hacked and her personal information stolen (experiences she was accused of fabricating). Quinn's opponents tried to turn the entire situation into an ethical debate about the relationship between gaming press and game developers.

The "ethics controversy" then sucked in Anita Sarkeesian, founder of Feminist Frequency, a video series aimed at exploring systemic misogyny in video games. Sarkeesian is no stranger to harassment; she has received a series of threats for her Feminist Frequency video series since the day its Kickstarter raised more money ($150,000) than she had requested ($6,000). The amount of money raised incensed Sarkeesian's critics, and after her August 25 video, "Women as Background Decoration, Part 2," Sarkeesian received graphic rape and death threats, eventually leaving her home after one of her harassers tweeted her own address at her.

The Quinn and Sarkeesian events led several publications ( Ars included) to discuss the notion of a "gamer." In this context, "gamer" does not mean "all people who play video games"-a group now broad enough to easily outgrow the term's narrow origins in '80s toy marketing. Instead, the term more narrowly refers to hard-core video game fans, who skew young and male. In the words of Leigh Alexander at , it was through catering to this group that video games came to overemphasize guns, women, and money. With the industry expanding its horizons, some "gamers" felt left behind in a world that has started to turn against aspects of their favorite pastime. Under this view, "gaming" itself is under threat.

Quinn and Sarkeesian became lightning rods for "gamers" of this sort, and thus was born "#GamerGate," a hashtag that became a breeding ground for all kinds of conspiracy theories surrounding the "corrupt" systems that allowed Quinn and Sarkeesian to figure in the industry as they do. As the hashtag spread, spectators got increasingly drawn into arguments about the ethics governing relationships between game developers and the gaming press.

#GamerGate spread through Twitter and reddit and eventually drew high profile support from actor Adam Baldwin. Eventually a second hashtag sprouted, #notyourshield, which was pitched as an "attempt by the worldwide gaming community to show that this isn't just male gamers who are speaking about gamergate, and this isn't an issue of hating feminism or not wanting women in the community."

Discussion logs, however, suggest that #notyourshield didn't begin as a broad movement but was a campaign manufactured and orchestrated by 4chan users via sockpuppet Twitter accounts. And, according to screenshots recently released by Quinn, so was the original #GamerGate.

"But seriously, I think we're doing pretty good on the #GamerGate front," wrote user OperationDunk in a "quinnspiracy" IRC channel. "Lot of support, and a ton of people are picking up the self-chastising when people start getting insulting. It took a few days of 4-5 of us doing it but it's taking off."

As for #notyourshield, its first reference appears on the /v/ video games board on 4chan as a suggestion for responding to "social justice warriors" who claimed the #GamerGate campaign was misogynistic. "Something like #NotYourShield and demand the SJWs stop using you as a shield to deflect genuine criticism," an anonymous user wrote on September 2.

As with the manufactured campaign #EndFathersDay, sockpuppet accounts appear to have figured heavily in getting the #GamerGate and #notyourshield campaigns going. The sockpuppets pushing the hashtags were easy to identify by their low post counts, the fact that they tweeted about little other than #GamerGate and #notyourshield, and reverse image searches of their avatars that showed the photos to belong to people who likely didn't own the accounts in question.

Another of the screenshots posted by Quinn shows IRC users referencing "sleeper cells" at a gaming conference. "I think all the sleeper cells are hard at work, there was a bit of organizing last night," wrote the user Prawnzilla. "If anything goes down at PAX [Penny Arcade Expo], and she approaches those folks, they better be diplomatic and let her bitch fit her way into humiliation." Quinn commented on the screenshot in a tweet: "SLEEPER CELLS. Probably the people who showed at my panel and took photos for 4chan." The logs also allegedly include at least two appearances by Eron Gjoni, the author of the original blog post about Quinn.

4chan members have denounced the logs to The Escapist, saying they are misinterpreted by Quinn. Both 4chan and Quinn provided copies of their logs to The Escapist; 4chan's copies do not include quotes about sleeper cells or the bit about 4-5 users said to have started #GamerGate, since they are from a different channel (#burgersandfries). They do include references to starting sleeper-cell Twitter accounts and "digging up dirt" on both Quinn and Sarkeesian.

The site We Hunted The Mammoth scoured the full transcript released by 4chan, turning up gems from some anons like, "i couldnt care less about vidya, i just want to see zoe receive her comeuppance." In another exchange, user Cyberserker says to another user, "You need a reason..." User Opfag responds, "Well I don't have a legitimate reason. I just want to see her die horribly."

After hours of reading the chat logs, David Futrelle of We Hunted the Mammoth summed them up:

The 4channers express their hatred and disgust towards [Quinn]; they express their glee at the thought of ruining her career; they fantasize about her being raped and killed. They wonder if all the harassment will drive her to suicide, and only the thought of 4chan getting bad publicity convinces some of them that this isn't something they should hope for.

They gleefully distribute nude pictures of her, posting links to online archives of them and emailing them directly both to Quinn's supporters.

They dig up all sorts of information about her and her family and do their best to track down anyone and everyone with even the most tenuous links to her. One industrious researcher even manages to find a picture of Quinn at age 13; while acknowledging that it had no relevance whatsoever to issues of gaming ethics, she posts a link to it anyway.

While the hashtag campaigns gained steam and was eventually sustained by a larger population, the the chat logs shed new light on the motivations and actions of those who did the most to push #GamerGate into the spotlight.

[ Editors Note: For those focused on the kernel of actual valid issues of game journalism ethics somehow churned up during this whole mess, this post over on my personal blog may be of interest. For general questions over the tone or style or amount or timing of coverage of GameGate, Rock Paper Shotgun sums up our feelings nicely. -Kyle Orland]

Update: To clarify the above article, actor Adam Baldwin was the first to use the hashtag #GamerGate, according to results on the Twitter analytics website Topsy as noted by Cathode Debris. Baldwin used the hashtag when tweeting links to pre-existing misogynistic corruption conspiracy theory videos surrounding Quinn and Sarkeesian. The logs show that organizers quickly adopted the hashtag to further organize their efforts.

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Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy

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"I think all the sleeper cells are hard at work."

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Grand Theft Auto 5 under fire for graphic torture scene

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Grand Theft Auto 5 under fire for graphic torture scene

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Grand Theft Auto V, one of the most expensive computer games ever made, has caused outrage among human rights groups for including a torture scene in which the player must pull teeth and electrocute an unarmed man.

Freedom from Torture joined Amnesty, teachers' union the ATU and MP Keith Vaz in condemning the scene, just two days after the release of the game.

Players of the 18-rated game become career criminal Trevor Phillips, and in a mission within the game called 'By the Book' are commanded by the FBI to torture an alleged terrorist for information.

Players must complete the scene to finish the game and are offered a selection of torture implements, including sledgehammers and electric cables to use on the victim. If his heart stops, a shot of adrenaline restarts it.

Following the scene, the character drives the witness to the airport while lecturing his victim on how torture is a technique for exerting power.

Grand Theft Auto 5 includes a graphic scene where the player is asked to torture a victim. Photograph: /Eurogamer Photograph: Eurogamer

"Rockstar North has crossed a line by effectively forcing people to take on the role of a torturer and perform a series of unspeakable acts if they want to achieve success in the game," said Freedom from Torture chief executive Keith Best.

"Torture is a reality, not a game and glamourising it in popular culture undoes the work of organisations like Freedom from Torture and survivor activists to campaign against it.

Labour's Keith Vaz added that he was "astonished at the level of violence depicted", while the release also prompted Alison Sherratt, president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, to warn that young children watching their siblings play may not be able to tell that it is fictional.

'Young children watch GTA too'

"The graphics are so realistic that little ones don't think what they're watching is a game," she said. "Four to five-year-olds have a tendency to copy what they see on TV, whether it's this or Fireman Sam putting out fires.

"ATL is not calling for a ban on these games, or censorship at all. What we are asking is for parents to become aware that the little ones are seeing these things."

But the most recent instalment has faced a different level of protest with critics arguing that the series, normally cynical and satirical in tone, misses its mark at times

As the main protagonist trevor Phillips, players are sent on a mission by the FBI that involves electrocuting a victim. Photograph: /Eurogamer Photograph: Eurogamer

The Grand Theft Auto series isn't new to criticism, being a frequent target of attacks by campaigners who claim its content is violent and sexist.

Jack Thompson, a now-disbarred attorney in the state of Florida, brought several lawsuits against Take Two, the game's publisher, calling GTA IV "the gravest assault upon children in this country since polio".

'Hardly the biting satire of GTA past'

Jeff Gerstmann of gaming site Giant Bomb claims that much of the writing "feels expected and unadventurous, hardly the biting satire that it felt like in past outings".

In the runup to the launch, reviewers discussed a strain of misogyny that runs through the game.

In one in-game mission set in a strip club puts players have to grope strippers while avoiding the bouncer's attention. In a review, editor of gaming site Gamespot Carolyn Petit argues that defending the scenes under the guise of satire is wrong-headed.

"Yes, these are exaggerations of misogynistic undercurrents in our own society, but not satirical ones. With nothing in the narrative to underscore how insane and wrong this is, all the game does is reinforce and celebrate sexism."

Petit also said the game was undermined by its moments of "hypocrisy and inconsistency", and said the suggestion with the torture scene was that it was a comment on the use of waterboarding and interrogation techniques by the US.

"But the fact that Trevor tortures the man regardless, and that he does end up spilling more information as a result, sends a very different message."

GTA is 'the go-to bad example'

Game designer, theorist and academic Ian Bogost is one who has defended attacks on the game. "GTA is the easy, go-to bad example in discussions of games as culture," he said.

"It's certainly a characterisation that underestimates the meaning and impact of the series, but nevertheless, among the general public GTA is a shorthand for prurience and abhorrence."

Freedom from Torture's Best is unimpressed with whatever satirical comment Rockstar has attempted to make.

"This adds insult to injury for survivors who are left physically and mentally scarred by torture in the real world," he said.

"If Rockstar North's message is a satirical critique of the practice of torture, it's lost on us."

Rockstar was contacted for comment.

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Grand Theft Auto 5 under fire for graphic torture scene

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The mission has been condemned for its violence, as well as for missing the satirical mark. By Alex Hern

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Only 22 saw the Buffalo shooting live. Millions have seen it since.

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Only 22 saw the Buffalo shooting live. Millions have seen it since.

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Law enforcement on the property of the Tops grocery store in Buffalo on May 16. (Heather Ainsworth)

Live-streamed from a camera mounted on the Buffalo gunman's helmet, the video is hauntingly gruesome - a first-person view as he fires a rifle into 10 people, some of them crawling on the supermarket floor. When he discovers a light-skinned man hiding in a checkout aisle, the gunman spares him, saying, "Sorry."

It is exactly the kind of horrific terrorist video that the world's biggest tech companies have vowed to block. But two days after the shooting, the footage was still widely available online - just asthe gunman had hoped, according to a screed written beforehand, bringing more attention to his racist cause.

The episode shows how little has changed in the three years since a live-streamed rampage at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, revealed how mass shooters could harness leading social platforms to make their carnage go viral.

When the Buffalo gunman broadcast the shooting in real time Saturday on the live-streaming site Twitch, only 22 people were watching, and company officials said they'd removed it with remarkable speed - within two minutes of the first gunshots.

But all it took was for one viewer to save a copy and redistribute it online. A jumble of video-hosting sites, extremist message boards and some of Silicon Valley's biggest names did the rest, ensuring millions of people would view the video.

One copy made its way onto the little-known video site Streamable, where, thanks to links posted on much larger sites, it was viewed more than 3 million times before it was removed. One link to that copy on Facebook received more than 500 comments and 46,000 shares; Facebook did not remove it for more than 10 hours.

Ahead of President Biden's visit, local activists share their hopes for how they'd like to see the administration help the community. (Video: Zoeann Murphy, Alice Li/The Washington Post)

What we know about the victims of the Buffalo grocery store shooting

"Terrorism is theater," said Emerson T. Brooking, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, which researches how information spreads online. "The purpose of terrorism is always to reach the greatest number of people possible with the most horrific or spectacular attack that you can perform."

Live-streaming, he added, enables "terrorists to have a much greater impact. It essentially rewards and incentivizes attacks which are less sophisticated, and may kill much fewer people, but will still strike fear and horror in millions."

A spokesperson for Meta, Facebook's parent company, said it was working to permanently block links to the video but that they had seen "adversarial" instances of people trying to circumvent its rules to share the video.

The suspect, Payton Gendron, 18, is accused of killing 10 people and injuring three others at a Tops Friendly Markets grocery store in Buffalo, police said. He had espoused a theory popular among white supremacists and on Fox News that White people are being systematically replaced in the United States. Eleven of the 13 people he shot are Black.

Guarding against live-streamed violence is regarded as one of the Internet's toughest challenges, largely due to the Internet's scale. More than 8 million people stream on Twitch every month, broadcasting more than 2 million hours of video a day. Some 90,000 channels are streaming at any given time, company data show.

And because any one video can be endlessly duplicated and re-uploaded, extinguishing the videos is almost impossible. Mainstream platforms can attempt to block it on their own sites, but they are mostly powerless to prevent third-party sites from hosting it. There are many such alternatives, like Streamable, around the Web.

The 180-page document allegedly written by the suspect, which law enforcement officials have said they are investigating and was originally uploaded to Google Drive, is filled with references to using video to achieve his cause. "Live-streaming this attack gives me some motivation in the way that I know that some people will be cheering for me," he wrote.

The suspect wrote that he had started browsing 4chan, an anonymous board where users celebrate racist violence, two years ago while he was bored during the pandemic. It led him to graphic footage from the Christchurch massacre that the gunman, Brenton Tarrant, had recorded himself with a helmet-mounted camera. The killings aired for 17 minutes in real-time on Facebook Live before the video was removed; 51 people were killed.

The video led him to Tarrant's own extremist screed, the Buffalo suspect wrote, saying he "started to think about committing to an attack." He'd said in his screed that he wanted to live-stream the video to help "increase coverage and spread my beliefs."

Buffalo suspect allegedly inspired by racist theory fueling global carnage

The suspect had created a Twitch account in 2017, but he'd used it primarily to watch other streamers' videos, according to account data and the writings he'd posted online. (Twitch is owned by Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post.)

In the documents, he said he had chosen to stream on Twitch instead of Facebook, because "only boomers actually have a Facebook account nowadays" and its rules could limit the video's reach.

He wrote in the documents that he had tested streaming to Twitch in March, saying he had hoped they didn't cancel his stream "before I do anything interesting."

Before the shootings Saturday, he invited people to an online space on the chat service Discord where he posted a link to his Twitch stream and his racist screed and wrote, "HAPPENING: THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

Store guard confronted Buffalo suspect during March visit, online account says

During the stream, which he titled "Test for real," he broadcast for about 25 minutes, mostly showing him driving and talking to himself. Eventually, he pulls to a stop in front of the supermarket, opens his car door and immediately guns down a woman in blue who is walking outside the store. The video continues with the carnage inside.

At its peak, the live stream had an audience of 22 simultaneous viewers, according to screenshots from the footage.

Twitch was able to remove the stream within two minutes after the gunman began shooting, said Angela Hession, the company's head of trust and safety.

The site, she said, has an all-hours escalation system in place to address urgent reports, such as live-streamed violence. But she declined to specify how the company had been able to react so quickly, saying it could enable bad actors to exploit the site.

Accused Buffalo gunman followed a long trail to terror, officials say

Shortly after Twitch removed the video, however, at least one viewer who'd watched in real-time took a copy saved on their computer and shared it - allowing it to be downloaded, re-uploaded and shared to far-right message boards, neo-Nazi channels on the messaging service Telegram, and sites devoted to gory and uncensored videos.

Within hours of the shooting, long clips of the video had begun surfacing widely, revealing the victims' murders in brutal detail. On 4chan and other sites, users discussed ways they could ensure the video would stay online.

One copy was posted to Streamable, a service that is used primarily to share clips from Twitch gaming streams. A watermark on the video shows it was saved via the Icecream Screen Recorder, an app for capturing videos.

Streamable was bought last year by Hopin, a London-based videoconferencing service. The company's terms of service say it bans video that promotes terrorism or acts of violence.

When The Post sent Streamable officials an email early Sunday alerting them to the video, the company sent an automatic response saying its officials worked only between Monday and Friday. The video was removed Sunday afternoon.

On its website and elsewhere, Streamable says it is based in Wilmington, Del. A visit to the address listed on its website Monday revealed a building with frosted windows, locked doors and a "For Sale" sign out front. Two men working across the street said they believed it had not been in use for months.

A second Delaware address associated with the company turned out to be an office building that serves as a mailing address for hundreds of different companies, allowing them to incorporate in a business-friendly state without actually having employees there, according to the receptionist who answered the door.

Streamable founder Armen Petrosian did not respond to a phone message or email seeking comment.

After the Christchurch massacre in 2019, major tech companies created an industry-wide system, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), designed to respond to future attacks. Adapting a technology used for years to block videos of child sexual abuse, the group built a system to automatically detect and remove videos from terrorist attacks they'd added to a blacklist database.

Within a few hours of the Buffalo shooting, the group launched what it calls its "Content Incident Protocol," its top-level alert to block videos from the websites of the forum's four founding companies - Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube - and newer members, including Airbnb, Discord and Amazon.

Up all night with a Twitch millionaire: The loneliness and rage of the Internet's new rock stars

The emergency process had been activated twice before, blocking videos from a gunman's Twitch-streamed attack at a synagogue in Halle, Germany, in 2019, and from another shooting at a shopping center in Glendale, Ariz., in 2020. The group has argued that its tools have allowed it to greatly restrict the sharing of the grisly videos online.

But the Buffalo shooting also revealed shortcomings. The database requires someone to flag the videos after they've been recorded, preventing its use for real-time alerts. And companies that are not members of the industry group - including Streamable and many other niche sites that host online videos - are not subject to the automatic bans.

Someone uploading the shooting video to Facebook probably would have had it automatically caught and blocked. But the morning after the shooting, people were able to post links to the Streamable video on Facebook that remained on the site for more than 10 hours.

Some people posted screenshots on Sunday showing they had attempted to report the link to Facebook but were told it did not violate the site's community standards. A Meta spokesperson said the video did in factviolate Facebook rules and that the company has since "blackholed" links to video of the attack, preventing people from posting it again.

Twitter and other GIFCT member companies said they were also removing videos from the attack.

Brooking said the proliferation of the Buffalo shooting video showed that the tech industry had made some progress since Christchurch but also revealed how far it has to go - particularly in addressing the flow of prohibited content between smaller platforms like Streamable, which often lack dedicated content moderation staff, and larger platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which can deliver videos hosted elsewhere to mainstream audiences.

"It's a perennial problem" in the tech industry, Brooking said. "No company ever raised money because of how good its content-moderation system was."

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Only 22 saw the Buffalo shooting live. Millions have seen it since.

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Placeholder while article actions load Live-streamed from a camera mounted on the Buffalo gunman's helmet, the video is hauntingly gruesome - a first-person view as he fires a rifle into 10 people, some of them crawling on the supermarket floor. When he discovers a light-skinned man hiding in a checkout aisle, the gunman spares him, saying, "Sorry."

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Online Community: How to Build an Effective One in 2024

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Online Community: How to Build an Effective One in 2024

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Ever notice how we humans crave connection? It's a built-in feature, pushing us to seek out company, share ideas, and belong to something bigger. All those family gatherings, close friendships, or even those nerdy clubs you joined in school are about connecting, right?

This thought extended to the digital world, and today, we have such large online communities spread everywhere on social media platforms. Trust me, social media trends always come and go, but one thing that remains constant is an online community.

But hold on a sec; not all online spaces can be considered communities. Sure, your Twitter followers or livestream viewers are great, but they don't quite have the same depth and connection as a true online community.

So, what really makes an online community tick? Let's break it down and find out what separates the real deal from the rest.

Before further ado, if you are one of those people who are super active in community groups, then you should at least give it a try to social media schedulers.

Online Community - Basics

An online community is a virtual gathering place where people with shared interests, goals, or identities come together to connect, collaborate, and communicate over the Internet. These communities can take various forms, such as forums, social media groups, or specialized platforms tailored to specific niches.

These communities exist on specific platforms made for easy interaction and connection. They are simply spaces where like-minded individuals come together online.

For instance, Reddit serves as a vast online community with diverse 'subreddits' where members discuss topics ranging from pets to politics. Facebook Groups provide spaces for people to connect over shared interests, whether gardening, cooking, or support groups for health issues or parenting. On Instagram, hashtags promote communities for food lovers (#foodie), travel enthusiasts (#wanderlust), and fitness fans (#fitspo).

The Discord community offers servers for chatting about specific topics or gaming together, attracting a wide range of interests beyond gaming. Meanwhile, Quora serves as a platform for knowledge-sharing and connection through questions and answers on various subjects.

Online platforms also include:

Membership Websites

Social Media Groups

Forums

Online Chat Rooms

Creator Platforms

Why Build an Online Community - 5 Important Reasons

Building an online community offers opportunities for connection, collaboration, and growth. It provides a platform to foster a sense of belonging, share knowledge, and engage with a targeted audience.

1. Sense of Belonging

Online communities provide a sense of belonging and connection, particularly for individuals who feel isolated offline. They offer a space where people with shared interests, identities, or experiences can come together to support and relate to one another.

2. Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration

These communities serve as platforms for knowledge exchange and collaboration. Members can share insights, expertise, and resources, leading to mutual learning and growth. This collective wisdom often promotes innovation and problem-solving within the community.

3. Support and Empowerment

An Online community can offer its members emotional support, encouragement, and empowerment. Whether seeking advice, sharing personal struggles, or celebrating achievements, these communities provide a safe and understanding space for individuals to express themselves and receive peer support.

4. Professional Networking and Growth

Many online communities cater to specific professions or industries, serving as valuable professional networking platforms. These communities facilitate connections with peers, mentors, and potential collaborators and opportunities for career development, skill-building, and knowledge advancement.

5. Social Change and Advocacy

Such communities can mobilize individuals around important social causes, amplifying voices and driving collective action. They serve as hubs for activism, advocacy, and awareness-raising, enabling members to effect change locally, nationally, and globally.

How to Build an Online Community [6 Easy & Simple Steps]

Building an online community may seem daunting, but it can be both easy and fulfilling with the right approach. Following simple steps and promoting genuine connections can cultivate a vibrant digital space where people feel connected and valued. Let's explore some easy and effective strategies to build your online community from scratch.

Step 1: Find a Niche

There's one thing that every successful online community has in common, and that's their focus on a specific niche. This means they specialize in one area and provide valuable content. To find your niche, consider what topics your audience is most interested in or finds useful.

For example, take the online community 'r/personalfinance'on Reddit. It's all about personal finance matters. People go there to get advice, share their experiences, and talk about money. When sticking to this niche, ' r/personalfinance ' has become a trusted place for financial help and support.

Step 2: Define a Goal

Don't rush. Start with the baby steps!

Defining your goal is essential for giving your online community direction and purpose. Without a clear vision, members may not understand the value of participating. They need to know what they can expect and how their involvement will benefit them.

For instance, consider the online community ' Fitbit Community,' built around the Fitbit brand. Its goal goes beyond just selling fitness trackers; the community aims to create a supportive environment for users to achieve their health and fitness goals.

Members share tips, challenges, and successes, creating a sense of camaraderie and motivation.

Step 3: Pick Your Structure

When deciding on the structure for your online community, you have two main options: forums or groups. Let's break down each one to help you choose the right fit.

Forums are like organized discussion boards where posts are sorted into categories, making it easy for users to find what they want. For example, the ' Stack Overflow ' community is structured as a forum, allowing developers to ask and answer questions on various programming topics.

On the other hand, group-based communities offer a more personal and interactive experience. Platforms like Facebook Groups or LinkedIn Groups allow members to share text-based posts and multimedia content like photos and videos.

This format encourages deeper connections among members and facilitates more dynamic conversations. For instance, the ' Humans of New York ' Facebook group serves as a platform for individuals to share personal stories and experiences, eventually promoting empathy and understanding within the community.

Step 4: Create a Member Profile

Understanding your target audience is crucial for shaping your online community into a space that resonates with its members. Building a member profile helps you identify the needs and preferences of your community, allowing you to tailor your content and engagement strategies accordingly.

Start by asking questions like, 'Who are your potential members? Are they primarily female, male, or a mix of both?' and 'Where are they located geographically?'

For instance, if you are creating an online community for pet lovers, knowing whether your members are mainly dog owners in urban areas or cat enthusiasts in rural settings can significantly influence the content and discussions you facilitate.

Take the example of ' The Knot,' an online community for brides-to-be. They have created member profiles based on demographics, such as age, location, and wedding preferences. This allows them to curate content ranging from wedding planning tips to vendor recommendations tailored to the specific needs of their audience.

Once you have insights into your members, focus on promoting inclusivity within your community. Try to establish ground rules that promote respectful communication and diversity of opinions.

For instance, the TED-Ed community encourages members to engage in constructive discussions while upholding the values of curiosity and open-mindedness.

Step 5: Create Community Guidelines

Another healthy step for a successful online community is to create strict guidelines that help you maintain a positive and respectful online environment. Just as you protect your brand image, you must safeguard your community's integrity by establishing clear rules that promote safety, respect, and inclusivity.

Start by outlining appropriate language and behavior expectations within your community. For instance, the 'Twitter Rules' set clear guidelines on prohibited content, such as hate speech, harassment, and violence, fostering a safer and more welcoming platform for users to engage with.

In addition to defining acceptable conduct, consider outlining consequences for rule violations. Platforms like Reddit have a system of moderators who enforce community guidelines by removing inappropriate content and issuing warnings or bans to repeat offenders.

So, when implementing consequences, you can demonstrate your commitment to maintaining a healthy community environment.

Additionally, once your guidelines are established, make them easily accessible to members. You can pin the rulebook to the top of your forum or group page for quick reference or include them in the About section where members can readily access them.

Step 6: Set up Your Management

I mean, assign roles of admin and moderators.

Establishing management roles within your online community is essential for its smooth operation and growth. As your community flourishes, delegating tasks to trusted individuals who can help maintain its integrity and foster engagement among members is important.

Take the example of the 'Subreddit' community on Reddit. Subreddit moderators, often called mods, play a crucial role in overseeing discussions, enforcing rules, and promoting positive interactions. These moderators are selected from active and trusted members within the community based on their ability to manage content and maintain a welcoming atmosphere effectively. They have the authority to delete inappropriate posts, organize discussions, and assist members with inquiries, ensuring that the subreddit functions smoothly.

Similarly, in Facebook Groups, group admins serve as the primary moderators responsible for managing discussions, approving new member requests, and enforcing community guidelines. The group owner typically appoints these admins based on their credibility and reliability in maintaining the group's standards and values.

Types of Online Community [With Examples]

Online communities come in various forms, each tailored to different interests and preferences. Social media platforms like Facebook groups and Twitter communities provide spaces for connecting with others and sharing content. Forums and message boards like Reddit and Quora offer structured discussions on specific topics, fostering knowledge exchange.

1. Networking Communities

Networking communities are platforms where individuals connect with peers, professionals, and experts to expand their professional networks, seek career opportunities, and exchange industry insights. These communities provide avenues for building relationships, sharing knowledge, and fostering collaborations within specific industries or interest areas.

One prominent example of a networking community is LinkedIn, a professional networking platform. LinkedIn enables users to create profiles highlighting their skills and experiences, connect with other professionals, join industry-specific groups, and participate in discussions and events.

2. Social Communities

Social communities are online spaces where individuals connect, share interests, and interact. These communities revolve around common hobbies, interests, or lifestyles and provide a platform for members to build friendships, exchange ideas, and support each other.

A notable example of a social community is Reddit, a vast network of communities (subreddits) covering various topics, from sports and gaming to cooking and gardening.

3. Membership Communities

Membership communities are for individuals who join and pay a subscription or membership fee to access exclusive content, resources, and benefits. These communities typically offer valuable content, services, or networking opportunities not available to the general public.

One example of a membership community is Patreon, a platform where creators offer exclusive content and perks to their patrons in exchange for monthly financial support. Patrons gain access to behind-the-scenes content, early access to new releases, and special rewards based on their level of support.

4. Local Communities

The next we have in line is local communities that connect individuals who live in the same geographical area. These communities serve as hubs for residents to share information, resources, and events relevant to their local area, fostering a sense of belonging and community spirit.

One example of a local community is Nextdoor, a neighborhood-focused social networking platform where neighbors can communicate, share recommendations, and organize local events. Nextdoor allows residents to connect with nearby neighbors, discuss local issues, and stay informed about what's happening in their neighborhood.

5. Communities of Action

A community that is committed to the cause!

Communities of action help individuals collaborate on specific projects or initiatives to create tangible social change or impact. These communities are characterized by a shared commitment to taking action and addressing pressing issues or challenges.

One example of a community of action is Change.org, a platform that allows users to create and sign petitions on various social, political, and environmental issues.

6. Communities of Circumstances

Communities of circumstance allow all individuals facing similar situations or circumstances to come together for support, understanding, and shared experiences. These communities allow people to connect with others going through similar challenges, allowing them to find solidarity and empathy.

One example of a community of circumstance is support groups for individuals with specific medical conditions or illnesses, such as the Cancer Survivors Network. These online communities offer a supportive environment where individuals can share their stories, seek advice, and find comfort from others who understand their experiences.

8 Proven Benefits of Online Community

Online communities facilitate knowledge sharing and networking and offer a unique benefit: a sense of belonging. In today's world, where distances often separate us, these digital spaces become virtual meeting points where individuals find like-minded peers, share experiences, and build meaningful connections.

This feeling of belonging contributes to mental well-being, creating a supportive environment where members feel understood and empowered to thrive.

So, let's have a quick walkthrough of the benefits of online communities.

Customer Engagement and Loyalty

Engaging with customers through online communities fosters stronger relationships, builds trust, and increases customer loyalty. By providing value, addressing concerns, and soliciting feedback, businesses create a more personalized and interactive experience for their customers.

This enhanced engagement not only leads to higher customer satisfaction and retention but also generates word-of-mouth referrals, brand advocacy, and long-term loyalty among community members.

Online Community - A Hub for All

Online communities are essential hubs where people connect, learn, and support each other in various aspects of life. From sharing knowledge to offering emotional support, these digital spaces empower individuals to grow, collaborate, and make meaningful connections. As technology evolves, the potential of online communities to foster positive change and inclusivity remains boundless. Embracing and nurturing these communities can lead to a brighter, more connected future for everyone involved.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Online Community 101: A Full Fledged Guide 2024

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Online community is where individuals come together virtually to connect, collaborate, and support one another. Explore more.

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BREAKING THE MOULD: THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION IN VIDEO GAMES

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BREAKING THE MOULD: THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION IN VIDEO GAMES

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Breaking The Mould: The Importance Of Representation In Video Games | Rock & Art

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Video games have been a form of entertainment for ages, captivating individuals through their engaging narratives and exhilarating gameplay.

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Parliament’s vote for equality in marriage and adoption was opposed by the Greek Orthodox Church.

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A Look at Gaming Culture and Gaming Related Problems:

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A Look at Gaming Culture and Gaming Related Problems:

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From a Gamer’s Perspective

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How to attack a woman who works in video gaming

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How to attack a woman who works in video gaming

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There's a hot trend among a vocal minority of gamers right now: the harassment of women developers and critics. Of course, this sort of thing is not new in tech - or, let's face it, across the internet - but in the video games industry it has hit a fashionable peak.

On Thursday, it was widely reported that the North American media critic Anita Sarkeesian had fled her own home, thanks to rape and death threats from angry gamers targeting her and her family. Her crime was to produce a series of YouTube videos analysing the depiction of women in games from a feminist perspective.
Sarkeesian's plight eerily mirrors that of games designer Zoë Quinn [see footnote], developer of the experimental adventure, Depression Quest, who has also had to pack up and move in with friends, after an online campaign of hatred against her.

Earlier this month, Quinn's ex-boyfriend published intimate details of their relationship online, and her sexual history inexplicably became the centrepiece of a large-scale, industry-wide debate about journalism, nepotism and ethics.

Accusations were hurled at Quinn via gamer forums and sites like Reddit and 4Chan. Gaming news blog Kotaku clarified that an alleged breach of journalistic objectivity concerning Quinn never actually took place. But the hate speech continued.

Yes, it's been quite a banner season for the collective of self-identifying core gamers who gather on forums to muster shared fury. Now they feel they are at war with a group of left-leaning games writers and developers who they refer to as "social justice warriors" - this is effectively anyone who has ever questioned the patriarchal nature of the games industry or the limited, often objectifying depiction of women. Because, you know, games are fine as they are thanks.

So, for those out there who have decided to join in and harass a woman developer or critic out of the games business, this is how you do it. Launching an actual hate campaign is a major commitment, so you'll need to stick with it if you really want to generate a culture of fear with lasting repercussions. Remember: one surefire way to make your mark on the world is by scarring it.
Crucially, a good troll knows how to attack a woman's "professionalism" - particularly if you've never read, watched or played anything she has produced. Your method is to undermine her credibility and devalue her work by hardly discussing it - and maybe discussing her full sexual history instead.

Your goal - if you, too, are keen on suspicion and hate - is total alienation, making your target feel impossibly hopeless and alone by way of attacking her friends, colleagues or anyone who has ever written anything positive about her.

If your target is Anita Sarkeesian, you will direct your outrage toward her supporters, including game designer and all-around luminary Tim Schafer, film director Joss Whedon or Phil Fish, designer of the beautiful platform game Fez.

You can make your attack extra personal by researching your target's address, work details and, if your target is Quinn, even her father's home phone number. Publishing this online is a great way to ensure your target receives death threats, without ever having to actually pen a death threat yourself.
Finally, if you really want to help ruin the games industry, it helps to have money on your hateful side. For instance, you might launch a successful online campaign to fund a documentary exploring how tech culture has been "hijacked" by Sarkeesian and other "social justice warriors".

All the while, bullies of the games industry, do insist that your efforts to totally ruin a woman's life and career are founded in "transparency", "ethics" and "integrity". Do suggest, at every turn, that "games journalism" has not yet fully acknowledged your campaign of terror because of an industry-wide "cover-up".
Be careful not to concede that anyone writing about said campaign may also fear retaliation. Certainly we do. In fostering this culture of terror, you can ensure the majority is silent - that it won't speak out against the harm you are doing.

For example, someone recently and bafflingly tried to hack into my email and phone contacts. This is all very frightening to write, and so I must disclose that I am biased, insofar as I am terrified. I have worked in this industry for most of the last nine - not always perfect - years and I have never professed to be a perfect person. However, my values, my belief that abuse must not, cannot become "normal", "acceptable" or "expected" is at odds with oh, God, please, why are they doing this, what's the point, don't let it be me, don't let it be me.
My unabashed love for video games, my colleagues and my work have a conflict of interest with my own terror.
See, the best, most successful hate campaign dreams big. For some, it isn't only about targeting one woman, two women, or a handful of women. The endgame is to frighten all women out of the video games industry - no matter what they write, film, create or produce - and to additionally frighten anyone who would support them.

As Slate's David Auerbach put it, "keep in mind that targeting Quinn will drive away the next Kim Swift". That's Kim Swift, co-designer of Portal, one of the greatest games ever made. Never was there a nobler cause.

One last thing. When harassing brave women, be sure to maintain that your campaign isn't about gender. And in a way, it isn't. Sustained abuse knows no gender, race, religion or creed. It hurts everybody.

The following footnote was appended on 5 September 2014: An earlier footnote, appended on 1 September, made clear that Jenn Frank had purchased and is a supporter of Zoë Quinn's work, although this is the first article she has written on the developer and that Frank has also briefly met Anita Sarkeesian. These facts had been included as a footnote by Jenn Frank when she filed her copy before publication but removed by editors because they did not fulfil the criteria for a "significant connection" in line with the Guardian's editorial guidelines. However, the Guardian wishes to make clear that it was an editorial decision originally to remove the original disclosure, not one made by the author, and we are happy to have restored it in the interests of full disclosure.

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How to attack a woman who works in video gaming

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A culture of hate and suspicion has descended on the games industry, and at the centre of the vortex is a familiar foe: women. Ask Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn. By Jenn Frank

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A game's "core mechanics" are the information and algorithms that describe the game's fundamental rules and internal processes with great precision.

The rulebook in a board game typically outlines the basic rules and mechanics of the game, as well as any variations or special rules that may be included. It is meant to provide players with a clear understanding of how to play the game and what is expected of them. In contrast, the core mechanics in a video game are the fundamental elements that define how the game works and how players interact with it. These mechanics can be quite complex and may involve a wide range of elements, including character abilities, game controls, and game physics.

In general, the rulebook for a board game is intended to be a concise reference for players, while the core mechanics of a video game are typically more detailed and involved. This is because video games often have more complex gameplay and a larger number of interacting elements, which requires a more comprehensive set of mechanics to define how the game works.

Five distinct categories of gameplay mechanics are described by Joris Dormans and Adam Adams in their book Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design.

Physics, or the mathematical laws of force and motion. Most video games with physics follow Newtonian mechanics, however they often simplify or change them. Cartoon physics is when a game distorts normal physical behavior, such making balls bounce higher each time they touch the ground.

Internal economies. An economy oversees the generation, consumption, and exchange of finite resources under constraints. Gold coins and popularity are examples of concrete and intangible resources, respectively.

Progression mechanics. These mechanics guide the player through a succession of tasks, each with a single solution, in a generally repeatable sequence. The user moves an avatar through a simulated area or through a virtual path as a progression of stages, where they encounter things that help them make progress, such as keys to get through doors or a handy parachute if they need to jump out of a plane for some reason.

Tactical maneuvering occurs in open or semi-open spaces. Chess, Go, and Total War use tactical maneuvering. The rules must explain what advantages each unit type gains from its position relative to another.

Social interaction rulesgovern player relationships, not only their speech channels. These include rules about forming alliances, team play, etc.

Core mechanics are the fundamental elements that define how a game works and how players interact with it. Some of the main functions of core mechanics in a game include:

Running the game's economy: Core mechanics can be used to define how resources are acquired, spent, and managed within a game. For example, in a strategy game, players may need to manage their resources to build and maintain a base, while in a role-playing game, players may need to manage their resources to purchase items and equipment.

Processing player inputs: Core mechanics can be used to define how players interact with the game and make decisions. This may involve defining the controls for the game, as well as how player actions affect the game world.

Changing game mode: Core mechanics can be used to define how the game transitions between different modes or phases. For example, in a real-time strategy game, the core mechanics may define how the game switches between building, attacking, and defending phases.

Timing events with progress through the narrative system: Core mechanics can be used to define how the game's story progresses and how events are triggered. For example, in an adventure game, the core mechanics may define how the player's actions impact the plot and lead to different outcomes.

Keeping the player challenged: Core mechanics can be used to define how the game challenges the player and keeps them engaged. This may involve introducing new mechanics or increasing the difficulty as the player progresses through the game.

In a real-time game, the core mechanics define how the game progresses in real-time, meaning that the game is constantly moving forward and players must take action as events happen. In contrast, in a turn-based game, the core mechanics define how the game progresses in turns, with each player taking a turn to make decisions and take action before play passes to the next player.

One-shot events are events that happen once and cannot be undone or repeated. They can be an important part of the core mechanics in a game, as they can add variety and challenge to the gameplay. For example, in a strategy game, a one-shot event might be a limited-time offer to purchase a powerful new unit or a surprise attack by an enemy force.

Here's an example of how one-shot events might fit into the core mechanics of a real-time strategy game:

In the game, players must manage their resources and build an army to conquer enemy territories.

As part of the core mechanics, the game includes one-shot events that can happen at any time. These events might include things like a sudden tornado that destroys a portion of the player's base, or a surprise attack by a rival faction.

Players must react to these one-shot events in real-time, using their resources and strategic skills to minimize the damage and maintain their advantage.

One-shot events add an element of unpredictability and challenge to the gameplay, forcing players to adapt to changing circumstances and make quick decisions.

The core mechanics of a game are the fundamental elements that define how the game works and how players interact with it. Level design, on the other hand, refers to the process of creating and arranging the levels or stages of a game.

The core mechanics of a game will have a strong influence on the level design. The specific challenges and goals of each level will often be based on the core mechanics of the game, and the layout and design of the level will often be tailored to support these mechanics. For example, in a platformer game, the core mechanics might include jumping and dodging obstacles, and the level design would need to include platforms and obstacles that challenge the player's skills in these areas.

On the other hand, the level design can also influence the core mechanics of a game. For example, if a level introduces a new mechanic or enemy type, the player may need to learn and adapt to this new element in order to progress. In this way, the level design can help to introduce and reinforce the core mechanics of the game.

The relationship between a game's core mechanics and level design is one of interdependence, with each element influencing and shaping the other.

In a video game, resources can refer to a wide range of elements, including objects, characters, animations, sounds, and more. These resources can be organized and managed in various ways, depending on the needs of the game.

One way to categorize resources is by separating them into instances and types. An instance is a specific occurrence of a resource, while a type is a class or category of resources.

For example, consider a game that includes a variety of enemies. Each enemy might be considered an instance of the "Enemy" resource type. There might be multiple instances of the same enemy type in the game, such as multiple goblins or skeletons. However, each instance would be a unique occurrence of the enemy, with its own properties and characteristics.

On the other hand, the "Enemy" resource type would define the general characteristics and behaviors that are shared by all instances of that type. This might include things like the enemy's appearance, attack patterns, and weaknesses.

Instances are used to represent specific occurrences of a resource in the game world, while types are used to define the properties and behaviors that are shared by all instances of that resource. This separation of instances and types can help to make resource management more efficient and flexible, as it allows developers to reuse resources and make changes to resource behavior at the type level rather than having to make changes to each individual instance.

An entity is a basic object or element that exists within the game world. An entity can be a character, a piece of scenery, a weapon, or any other object that the player can interact with or observe.

A unique entity is an entity that is distinct and individual, and cannot be easily compared or replaced with other entities. Unique entities are often used to represent special or important characters or objects in a game, and they may have unique characteristics or behaviors that set them apart from other entities.

For example, in a role-playing game, the player character might be a unique entity that is controlled by the player and has special abilities or powers. Similarly, a powerful weapon or artifact might be a unique entity that is essential to the player's progress in the game.

Unique entities can be an important part of a game's narrative or gameplay, as they can help to create a sense of mystery, importance, or specialness around certain characters or objects. They can also provide players with new and interesting challenges or opportunities, as they may require the player to approach the game in a different way in order to make use of their unique abilities or characteristics.

A compound entity is a more complex entity that is made up of multiple smaller entities. For example, a player character in a role-playing game might be a compound entity that is composed of smaller entities such as a character model, animations, and a set of stats and abilities.

Attributes are characteristics or properties of an entity that define its behavior and appearance in the game. For example, an enemy entity might have attributes such as hit points, attack power, and movement speed, while a weapon entity might have attributes such as damage output, range, and reload time.

Entities and compound entities are used to represent the objects and characters that exist within the game world, while attributes are used to define their behavior and characteristics. This allows developers to create and manage the various elements of the game in a structured and organized way.

Compound attributes are characteristics or properties of an entity that are made up of multiple smaller attributes. For example, an entity might have a "Health" attribute that is composed of several smaller attributes such as "Hit Points," "Armor," and "Regeneration Rate."

Compound attributes are often used in games to simplify resource management and make it easier to define and modify the behavior of entities. By organizing attributes into compound attributes, developers can create more complex behaviors and characteristics for entities without having to manage a large number of individual attributes.

Compound attributes can also be used to create relationships between different attributes, allowing them to influence or depend on each other in more complex ways. For example, an entity's "Attack Power" attribute might be based on its "Strength" and "Equipment" attributes, while its "Defense" attribute might be based on its "Armor" and "Agility" attributes.

Compound attributes are closely related to object-oriented programming, which is a programming paradigm that involves organizing code into "objects" that represent real-world entities and their characteristics and behaviors. In object-oriented programming, compound attributes are often implemented as "properties" or "fields" within an object, which can be accessed and modified using methods or functions.

Compound attributes are a useful tool for organizing and managing the characteristics and behaviors of entities in a game, and they can be implemented using object-oriented programming techniques to create more complex and flexible systems.

There are several types of entities that can be used to represent objects, characters, and other elements within the game world. These include symbolic entities, numeric entities, and NPC (non-player character) entities.

Symbolic entities are entities that are represented by a symbol or icon in the game. They are often used to represent objects or items that can be collected or used by the player, such as weapons, power-ups, or key items. For example, in a role-playing game, a sword might be represented by a sword icon, while a potion might be represented by a flask icon.

Numeric entities are entities that are represented by a numerical value. They are often used to represent characteristics or attributes of an entity, such as its strength, speed, or hit points. For example, in a strategy game, a unit's attack power might be represented by a numerical value, while in a role-playing game, a character's hit points might be represented by a numerical value.

NPC entities are entities that are controlled by the game's AI (artificial intelligence) rather than the player. They are often used to represent characters in the game world who are not controlled by the player, such as allies, enemies, or quest givers. For example, in an adventure game, an NPC might be a shopkeeper who the player can buy items from, or a quest giver who provides the player with a task to complete.

Relationships between entities can be managed using a variety of techniques, depending on the needs of the game. Some common approaches for managing relationships between entities include:

Using parent-child relationships: In many games, entities can be organized into a hierarchy, with one entity serving as the parent of one or more child entities. This can be useful for managing relationships between entities that are closely connected, such as a character and the equipment they are carrying.

Using reference variables: Many programming languages include the concept of a "reference variable," which allows one entity to refer to another entity. This can be useful for creating relationships between entities that are more complex or dynamic, such as a character's allies or enemies.

Using data structures: Data structures such as lists, arrays, and dictionaries can be used to store and manage relationships between entities. For example, a list of enemies might be used to store the enemies that a player character has encountered, while an array of items might be used to store the items that a character is carrying.

To manage the relationships between quantitative and qualitative attributes of entities, game designers often use a combination of data types and data structures. For example, they might use numerical data types such as integers or floats to store quantitative attributes such as a character's hit points or attack power, and they might use text data types or strings to store qualitative attributes such as a character's name or description.

They may also use data structures such as dictionaries or objects to store attribute values and organize them in a way that makes it easy to access and modify them as needed. For example, a character object might include both quantitative attributes such as hit points and attack power, as well as qualitative attributes such as name and description.

Numeric relationships in video games are relationships between entities that are based on numerical values or quantities. For example, in a role-playing game, a numeric relationship might be the relationship between a player character's hit points and the damage they take in combat. If the character's hit points are reduced to zero, they are defeated, while if the character's hit points are above zero, they are still alive.

Symbolic relationships in video games are relationships between entities that are based on symbols or icons rather than numerical values. For example, in a strategy game, a symbolic relationship might be the relationship between different units on the battlefield. Each unit might be represented by a symbol or icon, and the specific symbol or icon used might indicate the unit's type, abilities, or other characteristics.

There are many ways that game systems can combine numeric and symbolic relationships. One common way is to use numeric values to represent the underlying characteristics or attributes of an entity, while using symbols or icons to represent the entity itself. For example, in a role-playing game, a character's hit points might be represented by a numerical value, while the character's appearance and abilities might be represented by a symbol or icon.

Another way that game systems can combine numeric and symbolic relationships is by using numerical values to represent the degree or strength of a symbolic relationship. For example, in a strategy game, the relationship between two units might be represented by a numerical value that indicates the strength of the bond between them. A higher value might indicate a stronger bond, while a lower value might indicate a weaker bond.

Numeric and symbolic relationships are important tools for representing and managing the various elements and relationships within a game world. Game systems can combine these types of relationships in various ways to create more complex and dynamic gameplay.

Events and processes are two different types of gameplay elements that can be used to create interactive and dynamic gameplay.

An event is a specific occurrence or situation that happens within the game world. Events can be triggered by player actions, by the game's internal logic, or by other factors. For example, in a role-playing game, an event might be a random encounter with an enemy, a quest that becomes available, or a cutscene that plays out to advance the story.

A proces s, on the other hand, is a continuous or repetitive action that happens within the game. Processes can be triggered by player actions, by the game's internal logic, or by other factors. For example, in a real-time strategy game, a process might be the building and training of units, the gathering of resources, or the movement of units across the map.

In general, events are used to create specific, one-time occurrences within the game world, while processes are used to create continuous or repetitive actions or behaviors. Both events and processes can be an important part of a game's gameplay and can help to create a dynamic and interactive experience for players.

Conditions are used to define when certain actions or events should happen. If/when conditions are a type of condition that specifies a specific criterion that must be met in order for an action or event to occur.

For example, an if/when condition might be used to determine when an enemy should attack the player, or when a power-up should be activated. If the specified criterion is met, the action or event will happen; if the criterion is not met, the action or event will not happen.

Conditions are often used in conjunction with other gameplay mechanics such as variables and logic statements to create more complex and dynamic gameplay. For example, a condition might be based on the value of a variable, such as the player's health or the number of enemies remaining. Or it might be based on the outcome of a logic statement, such as whether the player has reached a certain location or completed a specific task.

From my free Udemy course, Understanding Games: How Video Games & Board Games Work
What is a Game? Rules & Mechanics Eurogames vs Amerigames The Game State, Information & Movement Narrative Elements Chance, Probability & Fairness Skill & Decision Making Trade-Offs, Dilemmas, Sacrifices, Risk & Reward Strategy, Tactics & Feedback Actions, Events, Choices, Time & Turn Taking Winning, Losing & Ending Balance & Tuning Difficulty & Mastery The Magic Circle Ethics, Morality, Violence & Realism Game Genres & Tropes Atmosphere & Progression Gamer Dedication Systems Concepts Overview of Video Game Systems Core vs Non-Core Mechanics Non-Core Mechanics: Economies Non-Core Mechanics: Progression Non-Core Mechanics: Social Interactions History of Video Games Common Digital Gaming Platforms

A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design by Anna Anthropy and Naomi Clark

A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster

Advanced Game Design: A Systems Approach by Michael Sellers

An Introduction to Game Studies by Frans Mayra

Basics of Game Design by Michael Moore

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier

Board Game Design Advice: From the Best in the World vol 1 by Gabe Barrett

Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: an Encyclopedia Of Mechanisms by Geoffrey Engelstein and Isaac Shalev

Character Development and Storytelling for Games by Lee Sheldon

Chris Crawford on Game Design by Chris Crawford

Clockwork Game Design by Keith Burgun

Elements of Game Design by Robert Zubek

Fundamentals of Game Design by Ernest Adams

Fundamentals of Puzzle and Casual Game Design by Ernest Adams

Game Design Foundations by Brenda Romero

Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton

Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design by Ernest Adams and Joris Dormans

Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames edited by Chris Bateman

Games, Design and Play: A detailed approach to iterative game design by Colleen Macklin and John Sharp

Introduction to Game Systems Design by Dax Gazaway

Kobold Guide to Board Game Design by Mike Selinker, David Howell, et al

Kobold's Guide to Worldbuilding edited by Janna Silverstein

Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design, 2nd Edition by Scott Rogers

Narrating Space / Spatializing Narrative: Where Narrative Theory and Geography Meet by Marie-Laure Ryan, Kenneth Foote, et al.

Narrative Theory: A Critical Introduction by Kent Puckett

Narrative Theory: Core Concepts and Critical Debates by David Herman, James Phelan, et al.

Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, Fourth Edition by Mieke Bal

Practical Game Design by Adam Kramarzewski and Ennio De Nucci

Procedural Storytelling in Game Design by Tanya X. Short and Tarn Adams

Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing by Wendy Despain

Rules of Play by Salen and Zimmerman

Storyworlds Across Media: Toward a Media-Conscious Narratology (Frontiers of Narrative) by Marie-Laure Ryan, Jan-Noël Thon, et al

Tabletop Game Design for Video Game Designers by Ethan Ham

The Art of Game Design, 3rd Edition by Jesse Schell

The Board Game Designer's Guide: The Easy 4 Step Process to Create Amazing Games That People Can't Stop Playing by Joe Slack

The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative by H. Porter Abbott

The Grasshopper, by Bernard Suits

The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies by Bernard Perron and Mark J.P. Wolf

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory by David Herman

The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design by Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten

Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design by Gordon Calleja

Video Game Storytelling: What Every Developer Needs to Know about Narrative Techniques by Evan Skolnick

Writing for Video Game Genres: From FPS to RPG edited by Wendy Despain

Writing for Video Games by Steve Ince

100 Principles of Game Design by DESPAIN

Conditions allow developers to create interactive and dynamic gameplay that reacts to player actions and the game's internal logic.

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A game's "core mechanics" are the information and algorithms that describe the game's fundamental rules and internal processes with great precision. The rulebook in a board game typically outlines...

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The Small Company at the Center of 'Gamergate 2.0'

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The Small Company at the Center of 'Gamergate 2.0'

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Montreal-based Sweet Baby employs just 16 people. They now find themselves the targets of gaming's latest harassment campaign.

The accusations began around the release of Spider-Man 2 last October. More came when Alan Wake II hit a week later. They were all over the replies to the social media accounts of Sweet Baby Inc.: hateful comments, many of which hinged on the idea that the Montreal-based narrative development and consulting company was responsible for the "wokeification" of video games, recalls Kim Belair, the company's CEO.

In the months following, the noise only increased. "You made this character Black, or you added these gay characters, or you ruined the story," Belair says of the comments, the tone of which, she adds, never changed. Neither have the demands of the people behind them. "It's usually, 'leave the industry,'" Belair says, or admit there's truth to wild conspiracy theories about being involved with investment company BlackRock. (Sweet Baby is not.) Or, more succinctly: "Die."

Online, those clamoring for Sweet Baby's demise are calling it Gamergate 2.0, invoking the online harassment campaign that erupted into a culture war a decade ago. Gamergate formalized the playbook for online harassment used by hate groups and the far right; it inspired figures who would later tap into that outrage and rise all the way to positions of power, such as chief strategist in the White House. The two movements do share a handful of similarities: harassment campaigns flooded with falsehoods and accusations bordering on conspiracy; attacks aimed primarily at women and people of color; the idea that video game culture for cis white men is being stolen from them.

"People want to believe that our work is surgically removing the things that they would have liked. 'Change this line, make this line less racist,'" she says. "That's just not the reality of it."

It's no coincidence that the campaign against Sweet Baby is taking place during a contentious election year. "Large-scale harassment campaigns like this fuel-and are fueled by-political events," reads a statement from the mental health nonprofit Take This, whose research director, Rachel Kowert, is an expert on extremism and radicalization in video games. "As political rhetoric heats up ahead of the US presidential election later this year, this kind of online activity is going to ramp up and it's important to understand that these phenomena are interrelated."

Media Matters reports that platforms like YouTube and 4chan have already become rallying points for what users hope to turn into this second Gamergate, asking if their fellows are "ready for the Second Great War." Elon Musk, owner of X and one of the richest men in the world, has retweeted a post claiming "Gamergate 2 is underway," while Libs of TikTok-a far right account that regularly targets LGBTQ+ people, inspiring vicious harassment of individuals and bomb threats against schools and hospitals-is currently targeting a former Sweet Baby developer, who has since gone on to another studio, for speaking about creating a safe environment for a team of color.

Amidst all of this, Sweet Baby, a 16-person outfit in an industry of tens of thousands, has become a lightning rod for a new, rapidly growing campaign against the specter of "forced diversification."

Belair cofounded Sweet Baby in 2018. It's a studio that companies reach out to for things like sensitivity readings or as, essentially, a writers' room for hire. They make suggestions, offer input, but they're not-as their detractors would have you believe-adding or removing characters or storylines in a void. Control of the projects Sweet Baby works on ultimately remains with the companies that pay for its services. "I still have a director over me, or a writer, somebody else who's going to be able to make that decision," Belair says. "Very few people have any kind of veto power. And certainly that does not rest in the hands of hired hands."

Although early efforts began on sites like notorious harassment hub Kiwi Farms last year, much of the misinformation about Sweet Baby has coalesced around Sweet Baby Inc Detected, a Steam curation group that bills itself as "a tracker for games involved with" the company. The group, founded January 29, also includes a Discord server that has acted as a fulcrum for hateful comments, transphobia, homophobia, racism, and sexism. Following a Kotaku report about Sweet Baby Inc Detected, members of the chat have relentlessly harassed the reporter of the story online.

According to one Sweet Baby writer, there was a "significant uptick" in harassment aimed at the company after the Steam group's creation, including sending harassing texts and DMs. (WIRED has agreed to withhold the writer's name for their safety.) "They're treating this like a holy war," they say. "It is taking on a cult-like vibe."

In an interview on YouTube, the man who claims he started Sweet Baby Inc Detected says his interest in the company began with God of War Ragnarök-a game he admits to never having played-where he "noticed things were different" and wondered, "Why is this game like this?" Navigating to Sweet Baby's website, he recounts looking over projects they've worked on, like the massively successful Spider-Man 2 (another game he says he's never played), and "noticing a pattern." Sweet Baby Inc Detected's creator, who says he's based in Brazil, never explains exactly what that pattern is, instead using buzzwords like "woke products" and "virtue signaling" and noting that several of these games had an "extremely diverse cast." Later in the interview, he complains that "our games, our entertainment, the stuff we love, are utilized for this kind of stuff, political agendas."

Games like God of War Ragnarök or Alan Wake II-both of which include Black women in prominent roles in promotion, story, or both-do not touch on any political topics in their stories. Ragnarök, a game built around mythical realms, is about preventing the end of the world. Alan Wake is about the titular writer returning from an otherworldly prison and joining Saga Anderson to investigate ritual murders.

"There are a lot of games that we have been accused of working on, especially if they include characters of color or queer characters, that have nothing to do with us," Belair says. "I think that makes it very, very obvious what they think the pattern really is."

Belair speculates that one of the reasons her company is facing ridicule is that Sweet Baby's harassers can't fathom that the people behind their favorite games would actually want her company's input. "They have to assume that, no, without [Sweet Baby's] intervention, that would be a white character," says Belair, pointing to characters like Saga. "Because surely my heroes agree with me." ( Alan Wake II game director Kyle Rowley has directly refuted claims that Saga, without Sweet Baby's intervention, would have been white: "It's absolutely not true.")

"There are marginalized devs who work on these games, and they want to put that stuff in their games," Belair says, adding that it's strange that players feel like characters of color, for example, need to have their presence justified in any way.

"I'm a huge Uncharted fan," Belair says."'Why is Nathan Drake white?' is not a thing we have to justify. He just is."

Online, other devs at studios Sweet Baby works with have come to the company's defense. In a thread on X, a writer from Insomniac Games confirmed that, as consultants, Sweet Baby offers ideas, feedback, and writing. "But none of that gets into the game unless THE CORE DEV TEAM AGREES WITH IT," the writer, who has since locked their account, posted. "Sweet Baby is not, nor is any consulting group, coming in to wreck games. They're helping smooth out plots and deepen characters. They ease the burden on the core narrative team."

The thread's top response? "Get out of our hobby and take them with you."

The harassment campaign against Sweet Baby comes as the game industry undergoes a period of immense contraction. Some 8,000 gaming industry employees have reportedly already lost their jobs in 2024. Nearly one-third of developers were impacted by layoffs last year, and there's a growing movement within the industry for workers to unionize to protect the jobs that remain. The collective loss of talent the game industry is undergoing will inevitably have an impact on the quality of video games to come.

Yet, on the Sweet Baby Inc Detected Discord, where users often decry what they see as a decline in video game quality, there's little care for the tumultuous year the industry has had. "I feel nothing for these developers who lost their jobs," wrote one user.

For Sweet Baby cofounder David Bédard, that dissonance is jarring. "They love games but hate the people who make them," he says. "They won't get games if there's no more people making them."

This is true outside Sweet Baby's ranks, too. Last year, a poll conducted by the organizers of the Game Developers Conference found that more than 75 percent of game devs surveyed believe harassment from players is a "serious" or "very serious" problem.

All this amounts to Sweet Baby becoming a scapegoat for anything players hate in games, especially as it relates to diversity and inclusion . Before, Bédard says, "they had nobody to point a finger at."

"What they're telling us is we're the reason all these games are flopping. Some of these games are the most nominated or [award]-winning games from last year," Bédard adds.

However Sweet Baby Inc Detected tries to paint the company it's rallying against, Belair says the two have more in common than they think. "I don't want tokenization either," she says. "I don't want forced diversity either." Part of Sweet Baby's job is to make characters more authentic and dynamic within their worlds-strong characters, she says, in the sense of how well they're written and realized.

Frankly, Belair says, there are positive and interesting conversations to be had. "But they can't start from this place," she continues. "You can't convince the conspiracy theorists. You can't convince people who are hateful. You can't change those minds, necessarily. But at the very least, we can give other people a place to speak about what they believe, speak about their values, and to rise above it."

Sweet Baby's founders say that as far as the company's business is concerned, the harassment campaign so far has been unsuccessful in interrupting their work. Their clients are supportive, says Belair, because many game studios are familiar with online abuse. Sweet Baby has been hesitant to directly address which characters or storylines it has worked on, because Belair worries that could lead to harassment of other developers on those projects.

"You shouldn't be sending this kind of hate to anybody," Belair says. "If you didn't like something, that's just fine. Deal with it. Don't buy another [game] if you don't want to, but you don't need to launch a whole campaign about it."

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The Small Company at the Center of 'Gamergate 2.0'

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Montreal-based Sweet Baby employs just 16 people. They now find themselves the targets of gaming's latest harassment campaign.

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Evolving Apocalyptic Narratives and the Ethics of Fallout

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Evolving Apocalyptic Narratives and the Ethics of Fallout

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Since the first atom bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, pop culture has imagined and re-imagined apocalyptic narratives. From the "atomic pop" that proliferated on the radio in the 1940s and 50s, to the 2008 and 2016 releases of post-apocalyptic video games and this recurring theme exemplifies how ingrained the apocalyptic narrative is in Western culture. However, a shift can be seen from apocalyptic fears in the years after the bomb, to the post-apocalyptic heroic narratives told today in video games like . Although the apocalypse was once seen as the ultimate end, post-apocalyptic narratives make room for life afterwards, a life inherently fraught with ethical dilemmas about how to rebuild society. Where did apocalyptic narratives shift from ultimate annihilation to a heroic narrative about rebuilding society, and how does provide a moral compass for navigating the post-apocalypse?

Starting in 1946, "atomic pop" proliferated through the Atomic Age and the Cold War, engendering the apocalyptic narrative into American culture. The Buchanan Brother's 1946 country hit "Atomic Power" exemplifies the popular opinion held in the early years after the bomb: "Hiroshima, Nagasaki paid a big price for their sin /When scorched from the face of earth their battles could not win/But on that day of judgment when comes a greater power/We will not know the minute and we'll not know the hour." This song brings together the complicated relationship between American patriotism for winning the war, and the immediate visceral fear of future nuclear war. Atomic war is also caught up in notions of divine judgment, implying that the next use of atomic weapons would certainly destroy the entire world. That life might continue after the next nuclear war was not considered an option.

Later songs in the 50's and 60's are notably less serious, and often compared the power of atomic bombs to sex, including The Cuff Links' 1956 "Guided Missiles." Throughout the year after 1945, atomic pop songs were mixed with sarcastic and licentious comparisons and a quiet perpetual fear of real nuclear war. And this theme continues in music today. Radiohead's 2007 song "Four Minute Warning" begins with the British Broadcasting Company's real recorded warning message that was prepared during the Cold War. This recent song combines Cold War fears with the still-relevant fear of nuclear war. This shows that even 62 years after the first atomic bombs were dropped, the fear of nuclear war has persisted and remains relevant in pop culture.

Songs describing nuclear fear tend to emphasize the lack of individual agency in atomic war. The average person going to work and back every day has little to no choice about whether or not a nuclear bomb is dropped on their city today, and songs relate to this fear. The invention of narrative video games provides a different outlet, one that allows players the hope of living after nuclear fallout and creating a new life for themselves. features 110,000 lines of dialogue and 80 square kilometers of space to explore, making the narrative game more immersive than other forms of apocalyptic narrative. Playing completely through the game takes the same amount of time as watching the Godfather trilogy 40 times , making arguably not just a video game, but a complete virtual world that takes players into a life after the nuclear fallout. And this world comes with its own complete set of ethical dilemmas.

released in 2008, and released last November, provide players with ethical dilemmas and room to make decisions, going so far as to distinguish between good karma and bad karma, which will affect a player's choices later in the game. Each game in the series has made a way to distinguish between good choices and bad ones, and especially makes this clear with a karma scale visible to the player. Almost every action within causes one to gain or lose karma points, the amount depending on the gravity of the action taken. For example, choosing to detonate the nuclear warhead resting in the town of Megaton, causing all the town's inhabitants to die in the process, causes one to lose 1,000 karma points , the most one can possibly lose with a single action. Other small actions, such as giving beggars purified water, slowly increases good karma. also has a morality scale but makes it less obvious. Various companions will like or dislike actions the player takes depending on their personality. For example, a good character will like it when the player helps others without requiring a reward, whereas an evil character will like actions that are selfish or hurt others.

There are multiple theories about why post-apocalyptic video games are especially popular. First, post-apocalyptic video games offer a human agency that is not found in the real-world equivalent situation. Outside of the video game, the average person has no control over nuclear warfare. What games like offer is a chance to be the survivor, the "Lone Wanderer" who will decide the fate of the Wasteland, a theme seen in many other types of fiction. With post-apocalyptic video games as opposed to other genres like fantasy , the latter hits closer to home and is more realistic, more possible.

Secondly, post-apocalyptic video games offer a "radical freedom" from societal and ethical norms. This offers the player the opportunity to imagine life without its many constrictions: school, homework, work, family relationships, social media. The ethical freedom in both allows one to act as they hope they would in a real apocalyptic scenario, but also in the safety of knowing that it isn't actually happening, begging the question, "Who would you want to be, what would you want to do, if none of it really mattered?" The choice to be virtuous, optimistic that one would act the same in a real situation, or to be rebellious and unethical because it's "just a videogame" is entirely up to the player.

However, some may say that the ethical choices in are not as open as they appear. For starters, the seemingly "near limitless state of opportunities" is actually governed by the moral code the game producers programmed into it. Although the player is free to make their own choices, the way those choices play out are already set. What makes the team at Bethesda qualified to decide the moral code for an alternate world, one that is supposed to mirror our own? Some decisions rely on common sense. Murder is wrong, stealing is wrong, saving the innocent is good. But many decisions in the games are not that simple. To remedy this, the game designers allotted different opportunities and awards for each decision. Some situations are so complex and ambiguous that the designers decided not to have karmic consequences for the player's decision , as if to admit that sometimes there is no clear right answer. Although the game designers essentially set the moral code for the universe, they realize their own limits.

Apocalyptic narratives have changed drastically since the 1950's. Earlier versions of this narrative were bitterly pessimistic and sarcastic in the face of impending annihilation. Recent interpretations of the apocalypse have emphasized the post-apocalypse. This imagining almost attempts to skip over the gruesome reality of nuclear war to the part where humanity's next great chapter begins. How would be different if the adventure didn't start 200 years after the nuclear fallout, but before or during? The emotional impact on players would likely be much different. It will be difficult to top Bethesda's immersive universe, but it will be interesting to see how post-apocalyptic narratives continue to evolve.

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Evolving Apocalyptic Narratives and the Ethics of Fallout - Prindle Institute

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As our fears about the apocalypse have changed, so have our media depicting them. What do these new forms of media say about morality in a post-apocalyptic environment?

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The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read

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The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read

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Anita Sarkeesian, the feminist writer and media critic who has been attacked in "Gamergate." (Feminist Frequency/Flickr)

Gamergate, the freewheeling catastrophe/social movement/misdirected lynchmob that has, since August, trapped wide swaths of the Internet in its clutches, has still - inexplicably! - not burned itself out.

Late last week, when many of us thought we'd seen its end, the mob drove yet another woman from her home: This one, Brianna Wu, because she dared to tweet some jokes about the ongoing drama.

Here at the Intersect, we have ignored Gamergate for as long as humanly possible - in large part because it's been covered in enormous, impressive depth elsewhere, and in smaller part because we're exhausted by the senseless, never-ending onslaught of Internet misogyny, which really can't be explained in a blog post - or, frankly, anywhere else.

But that said, the disturbing, violent threats sent to Wu, the co-founder of an indie game studio, makes it all too clear that Gamergate is less a one-off scandal (as the obnoxious -gate suffix would imply), and more a long-term, slow-burning campaign. In other words, Gamergate is not going away.

So even if so much of this bizarre Internet conflict remains inexplicable, it's important to try to understand what all is going on here - not just for gamers, but for ordinary Internet-users, too.

What is Gamergate?

Whatever Gamergate may have started as, it is now an Internet culture war. On one side are independent game-makers and critics, many of them women, who advocate for greater inclusion in gaming. On the other side of the equation are a motley alliance of vitriolic naysayers: misogynists, anti-feminists, trolls, people convinced they're being manipulated by a left-leaning and/or corrupt press, and traditionalists who just don't want their games to change.

The divide is, in part, demographic: It's the difference between the historical, stereotypical gamer - young, nerdy white guy who likes guns and boobs - and the much broader, more diverse range of people who play now.

There are, unsurprisingly, some socio-political overtones, as well: The hashtag only took off once it was tweeted by the conservative actor Adam Baldwin and blurbed on Breitbart. (Truly odd, fascinating headline there: "Feminist bullies tearing the video game industry apart.") Since then, Gamergate-supporters on 4chan and Twitter have been quick to sling around the acronym "SJW," for social justice warrior - a kind of shorthand insult for liberals and progressives. It's not a "an apolitical consumer movement," Jon Stone argued in The Guardian Monday; it's "a swelling of vicious right-wing sentiment."

Why should I care about this?

If you're not personally a gamer, it can be tempting to dismiss it all as subcultural drama. But as the preceding paragraphs would suggest, that couldn't be further from the truth: The issues that Gamergate struggles over are also issues of great conflict, and importance, to American culture as a whole. In fact, in many respects, Gamergate is just a proxy war for a greater cultural battle over space and visibility and inclusion, a battle over who belongs to the mainstream - and as such, it's a battle for our cultural soul. Just writ really small.

Then, of course, there's the sheer violence of the whole thing. We bust out the term "culture war" to describe any sustained conflict between groups with opposing philosophies and ideals. But when it comes to Gamergate, there's also an aspect of literal war, as well: Threats have become so violent that the FBI is investigating.

How did it actually start?

This all kicked off on a very specific, if no less troubling, issue. In 2013, an independent game designer named Zoe Quinn released a free game called Depression Quest. Depression Quest isn't a "game," in the way we traditionally conceive of it: It's more a story or a piece of interactive art, which as it unfolds, tells the story of a young adult's depression.

Some people were really into Depression Quest, including several video game critics. Other players took issue with what they considered the artsiness, the non-game-iness of the game. (Remember, this whole debate essentially boils down to identity: what counts as gaming and what doesn't.)

In either case, the stage was already set for some kind of major meltdown when, in mid-August, one of Quinn's ex-boyfriends claimed, in a series of disturbingly intimate and VERY long blog posts, that she had cheated on him with several men in the gaming industry - ostensibly to get ahead in her career.

How did the sex life of a person I've never heard of kick off a major "scandal"?

One of those men was a writer for the prominent gaming site Kotaku, a Gawker property. While both he and Quinn denied the allegations that she somehow traded sex for coverage, outraged gamers had already taken to Twitter, Reddit and 4chan by the tens of thousands to protest the so-called ethical breaches in gaming journalism. Almost two months later, in fact, many people will still try to tell you that ethics in game journalism are all Gamergate's really about.

The problem with that argument is that Gamergate's biggest "protests" don't appear to have any relation to ethics or journalism - not even a tangential one. Instead, anonymous hackers posted Quinn's personal information, including her address and nude pictures, shortly after her ex's blog went up. Conspirators on Twitter purportedly made sock puppet accounts to spread the "scandal," then bragged about it on 4chan. Some of the people sent Quinn death and rape threats so specific, so actionable, that she fled her house and called the cops.

Meanwhile, the male journalist whose ethics were (purportedly) at the center of the whole kerfuffle is still writing for Kotaku - which, for the record, ruled that neither he nor Quinn did anything wrong.

So what is Gamergate really about?

Initially, the "movement" appeared to be about Quinn - or at least about what she represented to a band of angry, anonymous gamers. But within days, Gamergaters had also attacked Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist writer and media critic, after she posted a new video in her ongoing series about women and gaming. She, like Quinn, was forced to leave her home.

Shortly after that, two other women who wrote about Quinn and Sarkeesian - Jenn Frank, a gaming journalist, and Mattie Brice, a game designer - announced that they would withdraw from the industry over the resulting harassment they received. Frank articulated the real issues at hand in her essay for the Guardian, which would later get her bullied offline: Gamergate, she wrote, is less about ethics, and more about drowning out critics of traditional, patriarchal, dude-dominated gaming culture.

For the record, the "drowning," in this instance, wasn't just run-of-the-mill Internet nastiness. In many cases, these women received highly graphic, disturbing threats - the stuff of "SVU" episodes. And in a few cases, anonymous Twitter trolls went so far as to include the woman's address or an exact time of attack, making the message a "true," i.e. criminally punishable, threat.

Who are these trolls exactly?

We don't know, as the most severe offenders are operating anonymously or under pseudonyms. In many cases, they're organizing on sites like 4chan and 8chan, an anonymous 4chan spinoff that essentially exists just to talk about Gamergate. In fact, thousands of Gamergate supporters on 8chan recently passed around a demographic survey on the gaming industry, put together by the researcher Jennifer Allaway; but alas, most of the responses contained only irrelevant (and telling!) messages, like "kill yourself." Predictably, the debate has also attracted the usual crowd of men's rights activists, neo-Nazis and other unsavories.

That isn't to say that everyone flying the #Gamergate banner is sexist/racist/crazy, and that isn't to say there aren't some decent arguments about journalism ethics being made. But whatever voices of reason may have existed, at some point, have been totally subsumed by the mob.

How representative is this of the gaming industry/the Internet/Americans/what have you?

This, at last, is the big, troubling question whenever we talk about harassment and other bad behavior online: How many people actually feel this way? Would they ever say these things in person? Is it possible so many people hate women so much?

Don't panic: There's good news here. Both mainstream gaming critics and many Gamergate supporters insist the brutal trolls are just a small, vocal minority. There's plenty of social science to back that up, too: We know that people are more aggressive, more argumentative and more nasty when they're permitted to comment on something without using their real name.

That said, discomfort about women's growing presence in culture and industry remains widespread IRL. According to a 2012 poll by the University of Arkansas, more than a quarter of all white men hold some sexist attitudes. Online, no one needs polls as proof: High-profile stories of gender-based harassment, abuse and bullying accumulate by the day.

But Gamergate, crucially, isn't just about gender. It's not, contrary its name, even about video games. At its heart, remember, the so-called "movement" (if an ambiguous hashtag with no leaders and no articulated goals can be called a movement), was always about how we define our shared cultural spaces, how we delineate identity, who is and is not allowed to have a voice in mainstream culture. It's about that tension between tradition and inclusion - and in that regard, Gamergate may be the perfect representation of our times.

What can be done to resolve it?

People have proposed lots of great ideas to make gaming more inclusive, from critiquing existing games (a la Sarkeesian) to encouraging more women and minorities to join the industry. But perhaps the simplest and most eloquent proposal came from Andreas Zecher, of the independent studio Spaces of Play, who recently wrote a popular "open letter to the gaming community" - and got thousands of other professionals to sign on. By signing, they promised to stand up for other members of the community if/when they saw them get harassed:

"We believe that everyone, no matter what gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion or disability has the right to play games, criticize games and make games without getting harassed or threatened," he wrote. "It is the diversity of our community that allows games to flourish.

Zecher's manifesto doesn't sound like it should be controversial, but it is. We can hope that as more people sign on - and as Gamergate inevitably, eventually putters out - that all changes.

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The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read

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Gamergate, the freewheeling catastrophe/social movement/misdirected lynchmob that has, since August, trapped wide swaths of the Internet in its clutches, has still - inexplicably! - not burned itself out. Late last week, when many of us thought we'd seen its end, the mob drove yet another woman from her home: This one, Brianna Wu, because she dared to tweet some jokes about the ongoing drama.

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WMU researcher finds little connection between violence, video games

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WMU researcher finds little connection between violence, video games

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KALAMAZOO, Mich.-Everybody "knows" violent video games desensitize youths to violence, increasing their violent tendencies.

But a Western Michigan University researcher has found that's really not the case. In fact, three studies he has conducted over the past several years show very little connection between the two.

Dr. Whitney DeCamp, WMU associate professor of sociology and associate director of the Kercher Center for Social Research, set out to answer a question that has clouded the picture of violent video games for decades. Do violent video games really make people violent, or do violent people just gravitate toward violent video games? His research shows it's the latter.

The research

DeCamp conducted his most recent study with Dr. Christopher Ferguson, professor of psychology at Stetson University in Florida. He also has worked with Rebecca Sevin, a WMU sociology doctoral student, on research examining beneficial effects of video games. Their findings have been published in a number of leading scientific journals and online, including in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence and Sociological Research Online.

DeCamp says it seems nearly every highly publicized shooting comes with another slam against violent video games, and those claims are often perpetuated by the news media, politicians and other scholars. But these criticisms are vastly overstated.

"The young males in my research were in grades eight and 11. I found that just by themselves, even without any controls, violent video games were a poor predictor of violent behavior," DeCamp says. "Even in the best model, it only explained about 3 percent of the variation in violent behavior."

Even that 3 percent shrank when DeCamp accounted for other factors. He also found similar results among girls.

"After controlling for other factors," he says, "I found that not only were the effects very weak in comparison with other ones, they were mostly non-significant after you included those other controls."

Better predictors

DeCamp found that what was going on in the home was a better predictor of violent behavior.

"The parenting measures in my study were some of the bigger predictors," DeCamp says. "The parental attachment between the youth and the parent, the monitoring activities of the parents-that is, whether the parents are aware of what the kids are doing-and parental enforcement of the rules were all strong predictors. Seeing or hearing violence in the home and experiencing violence in the home were also powerful predictors. So home life seems to matter more than just playing violent video games."

Another parental factor that had a strong influence was whether parents engaged in activities with their children. DeCamp says other studies have shown that growing up in a violent neighborhood and whether your friends engage in violence also are significant factors.

Violent video games often are blamed after highly publicized shootings, both in the U.S. and abroad. Examples include the shootings at Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook and in Munich, Germany.

"We quickly see officials mentioning that these people play violent video games and that might have been an influence," DeCamp says. "But many times they end up finding out they actually didn't. And in other cases, it lacked the context of how little that might matter. In the Munich shooting, for example, they pointed out that the shooter as a fan of Counter-Strike video games. That's a video franchise that's had about $50 million in sales. So saying that one person who plays those went out and shot someone is problematic, statistically."

Whether violent video games lead to a desensitization of violence is questionable, DeCamp adds. Being exposed to violence first hand is different.

"Seeing and hearing violence in your home is a known contributor to violence in general," DeCamp says. "When someone is around violence in their everyday lives it kind of sets a normality for that. Some people who criticize violent video games talk about a desensitization effect. There are questions whether or not that is a concern. But when you're experiencing it in real life, that is definitely something that is known to be a factor, especially if we're talking about victimization."

Time not a factor

DeCamp's most recent study looked at how much youths were playing violent video games and whether that had an influence.

"So if they play it one hour a week, is that going to have a weaker effect than someone who plays it for 10 hours a week," he says. "This study seems to suggest that it may have an impact, but it doesn't have much of one, if it does."

DeCamp adds that his research with Sevin has suggested that playing violent video games can even have a beneficial impact.

"Youths who play these games," he says, "often are more interested in computer science or more comfortable with technology and computers."

For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.

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WMU researcher finds little connection between violence, video games

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Research by Dr. Whitney DeCamp, WMU associate professor of sociology, shows the influence of violent video games is insignificant.

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Paying Your Way to the Top: The Ethics of Microtransactions in Video Games

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Paying Your Way to the Top: The Ethics of Microtransactions in Video Games

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The Ethics of Microtransactions in Video Games

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Trump, McCarthy cite video games as a driver behind mass shootings

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Trump, McCarthy cite video games as a driver behind mass shootings

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computer science and information technology

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international relations and national security

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Trump, McCarthy cite video games as a driver behind mass shootings | CNN Politics

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President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are citing video games as one of the reasons behind mass shootings in the US.